Usio (NASDAQ:USIO) vs. Paysign (NASDAQ:PAYS) Head-To-Head Analysis

Paysign (NASDAQ:PAYS) and Usio (NASDAQ:USIO) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Paysign has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Usio has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Paysign and Usio, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paysign	0	1	4	0	2.80
Usio	2	0	1	0	1.67

Paysign currently has a consensus price target of $8.56, indicating a potential upside of 58.27%. Usio has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 168.46%. Given Usio’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Usio is more favorable than Paysign.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

25.9% of Paysign shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.2% of Usio shares are held by institutional investors. 22.4% of Paysign shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.8% of Usio shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Paysign and Usio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paysign	10.10%	19.18%	3.84%
Usio	-0.46%	-2.05%	-0.37%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Paysign and Usio”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paysign	$58.38 million	5.10	$3.82 million	$0.13	41.62
Usio	$82.93 million	0.49	$3.31 million	($0.02)	-74.50

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

Summary

Paysign beats Usio on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paysign

Paysign, Inc. provides prepaid card programs, comprehensive patient affordability offerings, digital banking services, and integrated payment processing services for businesses, consumers, and government institutions. Its product offerings include solutions for corporate rewards, prepaid gift cards, general purpose reloadable debit cards, employee incentives, consumer rebates, donor compensation, clinical trials, healthcare reimbursement payments and pharmaceutical payment assistance, and demand deposit accounts accessible with a debit card. The company markets its prepaid card solutions under the Paysign brand. Its primary market focus is on companies and municipalities that require a streamlined payment solution for rewards, rebates, payment assistance, and other payments to their customers, employees, agents, and others. The company was formerly known as 3PEA International, Inc. and changed its name to Paysign, Inc. in April 2019. Paysign, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada.

About Usio

Usio, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated electronic payment processing services to merchants and businesses in the United States. The company offers various types of automated clearing house (ACH) processing; and credit, prepaid card, and debit card-based processing services. Its ACH transaction processing services include Represented Check and Check Conversion for electronic payment facilitation. In addition, the company offers merchant account services for the processing of card-based transactions through the VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB networks, including online terminal services accessed through a website or retail services accessed through a physical terminal. Further, it provides a proprietary web-based customer service application that allows companies to process one-time and recurring payments through e-checks or credit cards; and an interactive voice response telephone system to companies, which accept payments directly from consumers over the telephone using e-checks or credit cards. Additionally, the company offers prepaid and incentive card issuance services; and operates a prepaid core processing platform, as well as provides additional services, such as electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition, and printing and mailing services for various industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. It markets and sells ACH products and services primarily through resellers; and prepaid card program directly to government entities, corporations, and to consumers through the internet. The company was formerly known as Payment Data Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Usio, Inc. in June 2019. Usio, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.