Critical Comparison: Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) versus Paymentus (NYSE:PAY)

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) and Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Paymentus has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelity National Information Services has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Paymentus and Fidelity National Information Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paymentus	5.78%	13.75%	11.53%
Fidelity National Information Services	23.35%	21.30%	8.60%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Paymentus and Fidelity National Information Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paymentus	0	3	2	1	2.67
Fidelity National Information Services	2	8	13	0	2.48

Paymentus presently has a consensus price target of $35.20, indicating a potential upside of 11.74%. Fidelity National Information Services has a consensus price target of $58.68, indicating a potential upside of 35.52%. Given Fidelity National Information Services’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Fidelity National Information Services is more favorable than Paymentus.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Paymentus and Fidelity National Information Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paymentus	$1.28 billion	3.10	$66.94 million	$0.57	55.27
Fidelity National Information Services	$10.68 billion	2.10	$382.00 million	$5.16	8.39

Fidelity National Information Services has higher revenue and earnings than Paymentus. Fidelity National Information Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paymentus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.4% of Paymentus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Fidelity National Information Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 55.7% of Paymentus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Fidelity National Information Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Fidelity National Information Services beats Paymentus on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paymentus

Paymentus Holdings, Inc. provides cloud-based bill payment technology and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers electronic bill presentment and payment services, enterprise customer communication, and self-service revenue management to billers through a software-as-a-service technology platform. Its platform's payment processing includes credit cards, debit cards, eChecks, and digital wallets. It serves utility, financial service, government, insurance, telecommunication, real estate management, education, consumer finance, healthcare, and small business industries. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Fidelity National Information Services

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. engages in the provision of financial services technology solutions for financial institutions, businesses, and developers worldwide. It operates through Banking Solutions, Capital Market Solutions, and Corporate and Other segments. The company provides core processing and ancillary applications; mobile and online banking; fraud, risk management, and compliance; card and retail payment; electronic funds transfer and network; wealth and retirement; and item processing and output solutions. It also offers trading and asset, lending, leveraged and syndicated loan markets, and treasury and risk solutions. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.