Head-To-Head Contrast: Western Union (NYSE:WU) versus Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTCMKTS:REFG)

Western Union (NYSE:WU) and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTCMKTS:REFG) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Western Union and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Union	4	10	0	0	1.71
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions	0	0	0	0	0.00

Western Union currently has a consensus target price of $8.70, indicating a potential downside of 0.39%. Given Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions is more favorable than Western Union.

Profitability

This table compares Western Union and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Union	18.80%	60.85%	6.97%
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Western Union shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Western Union has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions has a beta of -0.46, indicating that its share price is 146% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Western Union and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Union	$4.10 billion	0.68	$934.20 million	$2.29	3.81
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions	N/A	N/A	-$30,000.00	N/A	N/A

Western Union has higher revenue and earnings than Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions.

Summary

Western Union beats Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions, Inc. develops and markets a payment system for medical cannabis transactions. Its solution assists in the state tracking of sales, collection of tax, and supervision of sales to consumers. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. On August 12, 2024, Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.