Contrasting Lesaka Technologies (NASDAQ:LSAK) and LiveRamp (NYSE:RAMP)

Lesaka Technologies (NASDAQ:LSAK) and LiveRamp (NYSE:RAMP) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lesaka Technologies and LiveRamp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lesaka Technologies	$328.70 million	1.12	-$87.50 million	($1.07)	-4.07
LiveRamp	$778.79 million	2.44	-$810,000.00	$0.61	48.96

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

Volatility and Risk

Lesaka Technologies has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LiveRamp has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

24.2% of Lesaka Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of LiveRamp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Lesaka Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of LiveRamp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lesaka Technologies and LiveRamp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lesaka Technologies	-14.02%	-47.06%	-13.44%
LiveRamp	5.15%	4.44%	3.38%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Lesaka Technologies and LiveRamp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lesaka Technologies	2	0	0	0	1.00
LiveRamp	1	3	2	1	2.43

LiveRamp has a consensus price target of $43.50, indicating a potential upside of 45.66%. Given LiveRamp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe LiveRamp is more favorable than Lesaka Technologies.

Summary

LiveRamp beats Lesaka Technologies on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lesaka Technologies

Lesaka Technologies, Inc. operates as a Fintech company that utilizes its proprietary banking and payment technologies to deliver financial services solutions to merchants (B2B) and consumers (B2C) in Southern Africa. It offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card acquiring, bill payment technologies, and value-added services to formal and informal retail merchants, as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa. The company also engages in the sale of POS devices, SIM cards, and other consumables; and license of rights to use certain technology developed by the company, as well as offers related technology services. The company was formerly known as Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Lesaka Technologies, Inc. in May 2022. Lesaka Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

About LiveRamp

LiveRamp Holdings, Inc., a technology company, operates a data collaboration platform in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates LiveRamp Data Collaboration platform enables an organization to unify customer and prospect data to build a single view of the customer in a way that protects consumer privacy. Its platform supports various people-based marketing solutions, including data collaboration, activation, measurement and analytics, identity, and data marketplace. The company sells its solutions to enterprise marketers, agencies, marketing technology providers, publishers, and data providers in various industry verticals, such as financial, insurance and investment services, retail, automotive, telecommunications, high tech, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, travel, entertainment, and non-profit. The company was formerly known as Acxiom Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to LiveRamp Holdings, Inc. in October 2018. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.