Financial Comparison: Western Union (NYSE:WU) vs. Fiverr International (NYSE:FVRR)

Fiverr International (NYSE:FVRR) and Western Union (NYSE:WU) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Fiverr International has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Union has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Fiverr International and Western Union, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fiverr International	0	3	8	0	2.73
Western Union	3	8	0	0	1.73

Fiverr International presently has a consensus price target of $33.82, suggesting a potential upside of 52.27%. Western Union has a consensus price target of $13.61, suggesting a potential upside of 11.93%. Given Fiverr International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Fiverr International is more favorable than Western Union.

Profitability

This table compares Fiverr International and Western Union’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fiverr International	2.38%	4.87%	1.63%
Western Union	14.12%	120.76%	7.83%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.0% of Fiverr International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Western Union shares are held by institutional investors. 15.9% of Fiverr International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Western Union shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fiverr International and Western Union’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fiverr International	$361.38 million	2.38	$3.68 million	$0.22	100.95
Western Union	$4.36 billion	0.94	$626.00 million	$1.69	7.20

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

About Fiverr International

Fiverr International Ltd. operates an online marketplace worldwide. Its platform enables sellers to sell their services and buyers to buy them. The company's platform includes various categories in ten verticals, including graphic and design, digital marketing, writing and translation, video and animation, music and audio, programming and tech, business, data, lifestyle, and photography. It also offers value-added products, including subscription-based content marketing, back-office, learning and development offerings, creative talent, and freelancer management platforms. In addition, the company provides a suite of professional solutions that enable businesses to engage with freelancers; Fiverr Pro, a marketplace; Fiverr Certified, a storefront to access certified experts for partner vendors; Fiverr Enterprise, a gateway to source and manage on-demand and long-term freelancers. Further, it offers various value-added products, including Promoted Gigs which allows sellers to advertise their services on the platform; and Seller Plus, a subscription program that equips sellers with advanced tools. The company's buyers include businesses of various sizes, as well as sellers comprise a group of freelancers and agencies. Fiverr International Ltd. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices. The Consumer Services segments offers bill payment services, which facilitate payments for consumers, businesses, and other organizations, as well as money order services, retail foreign exchange services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and digital wallets. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.