Head-To-Head Comparison: Fiserv (NYSE:FI) vs. Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL)

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) and Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fiserv and Sezzle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fiserv	$20.46 billion	3.50	$3.13 billion	$5.99	22.00
Sezzle	$371.79 million	8.38	$78.52 million	$2.92	31.37

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Fiserv and Sezzle, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fiserv	1	2	21	1	2.88
Sezzle	0	2	3	0	2.60

Fiserv presently has a consensus target price of $207.36, suggesting a potential upside of 57.34%. Sezzle has a consensus target price of $113.75, suggesting a potential upside of 24.18%. Given Fiserv’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Fiserv is more favorable than Sezzle.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.0% of Fiserv shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Sezzle shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Fiserv shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 49.5% of Sezzle shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Fiserv has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sezzle has a beta of 9.02, meaning that its stock price is 802% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Fiserv and Sezzle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fiserv	16.00%	19.69%	6.69%
Sezzle	28.13%	102.90%	34.75%

Summary

Fiserv beats Sezzle on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides payments and financial services technology services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Merchant Acceptance, Financial Technology, and Payments and Network segments. The Merchant Acceptance segment provides merchant acquiring and digital commerce services; mobile payment services; security and fraud protection products; Clover, a cloud based POS and integrated commerce operating system for small and mid-sized businesses and independent software vendors; and Carat, an integrated operating system for large businesses. This segment distributes through various channels, including direct sales teams, strategic partnerships with agent sales forces, independent software vendors, financial institutions, and other strategic partners in the form of joint venture alliances, revenue sharing alliances, and referral agreement. The Financial Technology segment offers customer deposit and loan accounts, as well as manages an institution's general ledger and central information files. This segment also provides digital banking, financial and risk management, professional services and consulting, check processing, and other products and services. The Payments and Network segment offers card transactions, such as debit, credit, and prepaid card processing and services; funds access, debit payments, cardless ATM access, and surcharge-free ATM network; security and fraud protection products; card production; print services; and various network services, as well as non-card digital payment software and services, including bill payment, account-to-account transfers, person-to-person payments, electronic billing, and security and fraud protection products. It serves merchants, banks, credit unions, other financial institutions, and corporate clients. Fiserv, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc. operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks. In addition, the company provides Sezzle Virtual Card that allows consumers to access the Sezzle Platform in the form of close-end installment loans and shop with merchants that are not integrated with Sezzle; Sezzle Anywhere, a paid subscription service that allows consumers to use their Sezzle Virtual Card at any merchant online or in-store; Sezzle Premium, a paid subscription service that allows its consumers to access large, non-integrated premium merchants; and Sezzle Up, an opt-in feature of the Sezzle Platform. Further, it offers Long-Term Lending through collaboration with third-party lenders and Product Innovation. Sezzle Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.