Head to Head Review: Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) versus FlexShopper (NASDAQ:FPAY)

FlexShopper (NASDAQ:FPAY – Get Rating) and Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD – Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for FlexShopper and Upbound Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FlexShopper	0	0	1	0	3.00
Upbound Group	0	1	0	0	2.00

FlexShopper presently has a consensus target price of $3.67, suggesting a potential upside of 270.37%. Given FlexShopper’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FlexShopper is more favorable than Upbound Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

14.9% of FlexShopper shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of Upbound Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.1% of FlexShopper shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of Upbound Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares FlexShopper and Upbound Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FlexShopper	5.18%	-420.55%	9.07%
Upbound Group	0.29%	40.50%	7.88%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FlexShopper and Upbound Group’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FlexShopper	$122.74 million	0.18	$3.27 million	$0.05	19.80
Upbound Group	$4.25 billion	0.33	$12.36 million	$0.20	124.20

Upbound Group has higher revenue and earnings than FlexShopper. FlexShopper is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Upbound Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

FlexShopper has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Upbound Group has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Upbound Group beats FlexShopper on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FlexShopper

(Get Rating)

FlexShopper, In. operates as a holding and financial technology company, which enables consumers utilizing its e-commerce marketplace to shop for brand name electronics, home furnishings, and other durable goods on a lease-to-own basis. Its products include cell phones, televisions, cameras and camcorders, video games, computers and laptops, furniture, smartwatches, matresses, Apple, and Tires. The company was founded by George F. Rubin, Morry F. Rubin, and Brad Mitchell Bernstein on August 16, 2006 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, FL.

About Upbound Group

(Get Rating)

Upbound Group, Inc. engages in the provision of furniture, electronics, appliances, computers, and smartphones through flexible rental purchase agreements. It operates through the following segments: Rent-A-Center Business, Preferred Lease, Mexico, and Franchising. The Rent-A-Center Business segment consists of company-owned rent-to-own stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Preferred Lease segment offers an on-site rent-to-own option at a third-party retailer’s location. The Mexico segment consists of its company-owned rent-to-own stores in Mexico. The Franchising segment sells rental merchandise to its franchisees. The company was founded by Mark E. Speese on September 16, 1986 and is headquartered in Plano, TX.