Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) versus Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Critical Comparison

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Green Dot	-1.24%	9.93%	1.66%
Fiserv	16.00%	19.69%	6.69%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.6% of Green Dot shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Fiserv shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Green Dot shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Fiserv shares are owned 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.

Volatility & Risk

Green Dot has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fiserv has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Green Dot	$1.72 billion	0.41	-$26.70 million	($0.44)	-29.28
Fiserv	$20.46 billion	3.36	$3.13 billion	$5.99	21.11

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Green Dot and Fiserv, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Green Dot	2	2	2	1	2.29
Fiserv	1	6	19	2	2.79

Green Dot presently has a consensus target price of $13.50, indicating a potential upside of 4.77%. Fiserv has a consensus target price of $181.15, indicating a potential upside of 43.25%. Given Fiserv’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fiserv is more favorable than Green Dot.

Summary

Fiserv beats Green Dot on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Green Dot

Green Dot Corporation, a financial technology and registered bank holding company, provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer Services, Business to Business Services, and Money Movement Services. The company provides deposit account programs, including consumer and small business checking account products, network-branded reloadable prepaid debit cards and gift cards, and secured credit programs. It offers money processing services, such as cash transfer services that enable consumers to deposit or pick up cash and pay bills with cash at the point-of-sale at any participating retailer; and simply paid disbursement services, which enable wages and authorized funds disbursement to its deposit account programs and accounts issued by any third-party bank or program manager. In addition, the company offers tax processing services comprising tax refund transfers, which provide the processing technology to facilitate receipt of a taxpayers' refund proceeds; small business lending to independent tax preparation providers that seek small advances; and fast cash advance, a loan that enables tax refund recipients. Green Dot Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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.