Reviewing Daiwa Securities Group (OTCMKTS:DSEEY) & Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Daiwa Securities Group (OTCMKTS:DSEEY) and Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Daiwa Securities Group and Euronet Worldwide”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daiwa Securities Group	$9.75 billion	1.35	$1.16 billion	$0.83	11.23
Euronet Worldwide	$4.24 billion	0.63	$309.50 million	$6.93	10.17

Daiwa Securities Group has higher revenue and earnings than Euronet Worldwide. Euronet Worldwide is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Daiwa Securities Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Daiwa Securities Group and Euronet Worldwide, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daiwa Securities Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Euronet Worldwide	2	2	3	0	2.14

Euronet Worldwide has a consensus target price of $95.00, indicating a potential upside of 34.81%. Given Euronet Worldwide’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Euronet Worldwide is more favorable than Daiwa Securities Group.

Profitability

This table compares Daiwa Securities Group and Euronet Worldwide’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daiwa Securities Group	11.91%	7.36%	0.39%
Euronet Worldwide	7.15%	28.37%	5.74%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.6% of Euronet Worldwide shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.2% of Euronet Worldwide shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Daiwa Securities Group has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Euronet Worldwide has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Euronet Worldwide beats Daiwa Securities Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Daiwa Securities Group

Daiwa Securities Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, primarily operates as a securities broker-dealer in Japan and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Retail, Wholesale, Asset Management, and Investment. The Retail segment offers products and services related to asset management, including equities, bonds, investment trusts, wrap account services, insurance, banking services, inheritance-related services, etc. for individual investors and unlisted companies. The Wholesale segment offers sales and trading services of equities and bonds, as well as of foreign exchange and derivative products primarily for institutional investors and corporations; and investment banking services, such as underwriting of securities, M&A advisory, etc. The Asset Management segment structures and manages investment trusts primarily for individual investors and financial institutions; provides investment advisory services; and manages assets. The Investment segment invests in monetary claims, loans, private equities, and real estate properties, as well as energy, infrastructure, and resource sectors. The company also offers research and consulting, and information services, as well as engages in the office work activities. In addition, it is involved in the securities-related, investment advisory and agency, and investment management businesses, as well as lending and borrowing of real estate properties. The company was formerly known as Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. and changed its name to Daiwa Securities Group Inc. in 1999. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Euronet Worldwide

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. provides payment and transaction processing and distribution solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers, and individual consumers worldwide. It operates through three segments: Electronic Fund Transfer Processing, epay, and Money Transfer. The Electronic Fund Transfer Processing segment provides electronic payment solutions, including automated teller machine (ATM) cash withdrawal and deposit services, ATM network participation, outsourced ATM and point-of-sale (POS) management solutions, credit and debit and prepaid card outsourcing, card issuing, and merchant acquiring services. It also offers ATM and POS currency conversion, ATM surcharge, advertising, customer relationship management, mobile top-up, bill payment, fraud management, foreign remittance and cardless payout, banknote recycling, and tax-refund services; and integrated electronic financial transaction software solutions for electronic payment and transaction delivery systems. The epay segment distributes and processes prepaid mobile airtime and other electronic payment products; and provides payment processing services for various prepaid products, cards, and services, as well as vouchers and physical gift fulfillment, and gift card distribution and processing services. This segment operates a network of approximately 821,000 POS terminals. The Money Transfer segment offers consumer-to-consumer and account-to-account money transfer, customers bill payment, check cashing, foreign currency exchange, mobile top-up, and cash management and foreign currency risk management services, as well as payment alternatives, such as money orders and prepaid debit cards. The company was formerly known as Euronet Services, Inc. and changed its name to Euronet Worldwide, Inc. in August 2001. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.