Oportun Financial (NASDAQ:OPRT) & Lion Group (NASDAQ:LGHL) Critical Contrast

Lion Group (NASDAQ:LGHL) and Oportun Financial (NASDAQ:OPRT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Lion Group has a beta of 2.42, suggesting that its share price is 142% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oportun Financial has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Lion Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of Oportun Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Lion Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.3% of Oportun Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lion Group and Oportun Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lion Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Oportun Financial	3.19%	17.61%	2.03%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lion Group and Oportun Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lion Group	$21.09 million	0.01	-$27.45 million	N/A	N/A
Oportun Financial	$1.00 billion	0.21	-$78.68 million	$0.66	7.08

Lion Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Oportun Financial.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lion Group and Oportun Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lion Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Oportun Financial	2	3	2	0	2.00

Oportun Financial has a consensus price target of $8.67, indicating a potential upside of 85.58%. Given Oportun Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Oportun Financial is more favorable than Lion Group.

Summary

Oportun Financial beats Lion Group on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lion Group

Lion Group Holding Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates a trading platform for corporate clients, individual traders, and retail investors primarily in the People's Republic of China and Southeast Asia. Its trading platform offers a range of products and services comprising contracts for difference trading, over-the-counter stock options trading, futures and securities brokerage, and total return swap trading services through its Lion Brokers Pro app platform. The company's trading platform allows users to trade various futures products on futures exchanges worldwide, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Singapore Exchange, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, and Eurex Exchange; stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and Hong Kong Stock Exchange; and the People's Republic of China stocks listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange that are eligible for the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programs. It markets its products mainly through search engines, social media, app stores, and third-party websites. Lion Group Holding Ltd. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About Oportun Financial

Oportun Financial Corporation provides financial services. The company offers personal loans and credit cards. It serves customers through online and over the phone, as well as through retail and Lending as a Service partner locations. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.