Reviewing Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) and Forge Global (NYSE:FRGE)

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) and Forge Global (NYSE:FRGE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Axos Financial and Forge Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Axos Financial	$1.95 billion	2.54	$432.91 million	$8.23	10.56
Forge Global	$92.88 million	6.71	-$66.33 million	($5.20)	-8.65

Axos Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Forge Global. Forge Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Axos Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.8% of Axos Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of Forge Global shares are held by institutional investors. 4.9% of Axos Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Forge Global shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Axos Financial and Forge Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Axos Financial	22.53%	16.48%	1.72%
Forge Global	-71.87%	-29.06%	-24.63%

Volatility and Risk

Axos Financial has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Forge Global has a beta of 2.18, indicating that its stock price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Axos Financial and Forge Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Axos Financial	0	2	4	1	2.86
Forge Global	1	4	0	0	1.80

Axos Financial currently has a consensus target price of $109.40, indicating a potential upside of 25.90%. Forge Global has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Given Axos Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Axos Financial is more favorable than Forge Global.

Summary

Axos Financial beats Forge Global on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Axos Financial

Axos Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts. It also provides residential single family, multifamily, and commercial mortgage loans; commercial real estate secured loans; commercial and industrial non-real estate, asset-backed, lines of credit, and term loans; automobile loans; fixed rate unsecured loans; and other loans, such as structure settlements, small business administration consumer loans, and securities-backed loans. In addition, the company offers ACH origination, wire transfer, commercial check printing, business bill pay and account transfer; remote deposit capture, mobile deposit, lockbox, merchant, and online payment portal; concierge banking; mobile and text message banking; and payment services, as well as debit and credit cards, and digital wallets. Further, it provides disclosed clearing services; back-office services, such as record keeping, trade reporting, accounting, general back-office support, securities and margin lending, reorganization assistance, and custody of securities; and financing to brokerage customers. The company was formerly known as BofI Holding, Inc. and changed its name to Axos Financial, Inc. in September 2018. Axos Financial, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Forge Global

Forge Global Holdings, Inc. operates a financial services platform in California. The company's platform solutions include trading solutions, a platform that connects investors with private company stockholders and enables them to facilitate private share transactions; and custody solutions, a non-depository trust company that enables clients to securely custody and manage assets through an online portal. It also provides data solutions, such as information and insight to navigate, analyze, and make investment decisions to market participants in the private market. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.