Reviewing Usio (NASDAQ:USIO) and Paysafe (NYSE:PSFE)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

54.4% of Paysafe shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.2% of Usio shares are held by institutional investors. 17.8% of Usio shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Paysafe has a beta of 1.75, meaning that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Usio has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paysafe	-10.73%	11.55%	1.83%
Usio	-2.94%	-13.52%	-2.22%

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paysafe	$1.70 billion	0.21	-$182.51 million	($3.15)	-2.17
Usio	$85.39 million	0.36	-$2.51 million	($0.09)	-12.44

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Paysafe and Usio, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paysafe	2	4	1	0	1.86
Usio	3	0	1	0	1.50

Paysafe currently has a consensus price target of $9.81, suggesting a potential upside of 43.30%. Usio has a consensus price target of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 257.14%. Given Usio’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Usio is more favorable than Paysafe.

Summary

Paysafe beats Usio on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paysafe

Paysafe Limited provides end-to-end payment solutions in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its payments platform offers a range of payment solutions comprising credit and debit card processing, digital wallet, eCash, and real-time banking solutions for entertainment verticals, such as iGaming, including online betting related to sports, e-sports, fantasy sports, poker, and other casino games, as well as travel, streaming/video gaming, retail/hospitality, and digital assets. The company operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Digital Wallets. The Merchant Solutions segment offers PCI-compliant payment acceptance and transaction processing solutions for merchants and integrated service providers, including merchant acquiring, transaction processing, gateway solutions, fraud and risk management tools, data and analytics, point of sale systems, and merchant financing solutions, as well as comprehensive support services under the Paysafe and Petroleum Card Services brands. The Digital Wallets segment offers digital wallet solutions under the Skrill, NETELLER, paysafecard, and Paysafecash brands; and pay-by-bank solutions under the Rapid Transfer brand. It also provides eCash solutions under the paysafecard and Paysafecash brands; paysafecard prepaid Mastercard that can be linked to a digital paysafecard account and used to make purchases; Safetypay, a platform that enables eCommerce transactions; and PagoEfectivo, an alternative payment platform. The company is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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.