ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) vs. ImageWare Systems (OTCMKTS:IWSY) Head to Head Analysis

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) and ImageWare Systems (OTCMKTS:IWSY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.7% of ACI Worldwide shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.2% of ImageWare Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of ACI Worldwide shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 37.7% of ImageWare Systems shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

ACI Worldwide has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ImageWare Systems has a beta of 1.91, indicating that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for ACI Worldwide and ImageWare Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACI Worldwide	0	0	3	0	3.00
ImageWare Systems	0	0	0	0	0.00

ACI Worldwide currently has a consensus target price of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.98%. Given ACI Worldwide’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe ACI Worldwide is more favorable than ImageWare Systems.

Profitability

This table compares ACI Worldwide and ImageWare Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACI Worldwide	14.76%	19.09%	8.63%
ImageWare Systems	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ACI Worldwide and ImageWare Systems”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACI Worldwide	$1.59 billion	3.06	$203.12 million	$2.37	19.94
ImageWare Systems	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

ACI Worldwide has higher revenue and earnings than ImageWare Systems.

Summary

ACI Worldwide beats ImageWare Systems on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide, Inc., a software company, develops, markets, installs, and supports a range of software products and solutions for facilitating digital payments in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Banks, Merchants, and Billers. The company offers ACI Acquiring, a solution to process credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions, deliver digital innovation, and fraud prevention; ACI Issuing, a digital payment issuing solution for new payment offering; and ACI Enterprise Payments Platform that provides payment processing and orchestration capabilities for digital payments. It also provides ACI Low Value Real-Time Payments, a platform for processing real-time payments; and ACI High Value Real-Time Payments, a payments engine that offers multi-bank, multi-currency, 24×7 payment processing, and SWIFT messaging. In addition, the company offers ACI Payments Orchestration Platform for optimizing payments; omni-channel payment platform; ACI Fraud Management, a real-time approach to fraud management; and ACI Speedpay, an integrated suite of digital billing, payment, disbursement, and communication services. The company offers electronic bill presentment and payment services to consumer finance, insurance, healthcare, higher education, utility, government, telecommunications, and mortgage sectors; implementation services, include product installations and configurations, and custom software modifications; and business and technical consultancy, on-site support, product education, and testing services, as well as distributes or acts as a sales agent for software developed by third parties. It markets its products under the ACI Worldwide brand. The company was formerly known as Transaction Systems Architects, Inc. and changed its name to ACI Worldwide, Inc. in July 2007. The company was founded in 1975 and is based in Elkhorn, Nebraska.

About ImageWare Systems

ImageWare Systems, Inc. operates as a biometric solution provider in the United States and internationally. It offers Imageware Biometric Engine, a biometric identity and authentication database built for multi-biometric enrollment, management, and authentication. The company also provides Imageware Proof that enables an entity to prove user identity from their biometrics, government issued ID, and credit bureau data; Imageware Capture that enables the capture of biographic and biometric details, such as face, fingerprint, palm print, and iris, as well as scars, marks, and tattoos; Imageware Identify, which enables a user to identify others from their biometrics; and Imageware Investigate that enables an officer to create digital lineups. In addition, it offers Imageware Credential that enables a user to design, build, and print badges for access control systems, which includes tickets, smart badges, wristbands, personal identity verification cards, and others; Imageware Digital ID, a decentralized identity service that enables self-sovereign identity underpinned by blockchain technology tied to biometrics; and Imageware Authenticate, which enables users to leverage multimodal biometrics hosted in a central server or cloud to log in to services and applications from a device. Further, the company provides Law Enforcement 2.0 solution which enables state, local, and federal agencies to capture, archive, search, retrieve, and share digital images, fingerprints, and other biometrics, as well as criminal history records on a stand-alone, networked, wireless or browser-based platform. It serves airports and seaports, education, financial, government, healthcare, and law enforcement industries. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.