Head-To-Head Comparison: Freedom (NASDAQ:FRHC) & Usio (NASDAQ:USIO)

Freedom (NASDAQ:FRHC) and Usio (NASDAQ:USIO) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Freedom and Usio”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Freedom	$2.19 billion	5.06	$153.33 million	$2.53	68.72
Usio	$85.39 million	0.94	-$2.51 million	($0.06)	-47.17

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freedom	6.47%	10.96%	1.24%
Usio	-1.63%	-8.20%	-1.26%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Freedom and Usio, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freedom	0	2	1	0	2.33
Usio	1	1	2	0	2.25

Freedom currently has a consensus price target of $159.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.55%. Usio has a consensus price target of $5.38, indicating a potential upside of 89.93%. Given Usio’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Usio is more favorable than Freedom.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.3% of Freedom shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.2% of Usio shares are owned by institutional investors. 69.8% of Freedom shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.0% of Usio shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Freedom has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Usio has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Freedom beats Usio on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Freedom

Freedom Holding Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage, securities dealing, market making, investment research, investment counseling, and investment banking services. It offers retail brokerage services for exchange-traded and over-the-counter corporate equity and debt securities, money market instruments, exchange traded options and futures contracts, government bonds, and mutual funds; securities trading; underwriting services; margin lending services collateralized by securities and cash in the customer’s account; various investment education and training courses; investment research services; and commercial banking services, including payment cards, digital mortgages, and digital business and digital auto loans, as well as Freedom Box, a package of payment acquiring services. The company also provides capital raising solutions for corporate clients through initial public offerings and follow-on offerings; and debt capital markets solutions that focuses on structuring and distributing private and public debt for various purposes, including buyouts, acquisitions, growth capital financings, and recapitalizations, as well as information processing services. In addition, it facilitates repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements in proprietary trading activities; and covers short positions and settle other securities obligations to accommodate customers’ needs and finance its inventory positions. Further, the company offers proprietary trading and investment services, as well as insurance products; and Tradernet software platform for client margin risk evaluation and middle office security transfer requests. It operates in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, rest of Europe, the United States, Russia, the Middle East, and Caucasus. The company was formerly known as BMB Munai, Inc. and changed its name to Freedom Holding Corp. Freedom Holding Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

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.