Lufax (NYSE:LU) versus Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Head-To-Head Comparison

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) and Lufax (NYSE:LU) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Upbound Group and Lufax”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upbound Group	$4.70 billion	0.22	$73.24 million	$1.54	11.47
Lufax	$21.65 billion	0.05	-$291.79 million	($0.61)	-1.94

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Upbound Group and Lufax, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upbound Group	1	2	1	0	2.00
Lufax	2	1	1	0	1.75

Upbound Group presently has a consensus price target of $28.00, suggesting a potential upside of 58.55%. Lufax has a consensus price target of $1.70, suggesting a potential upside of 43.46%. Given Upbound Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Upbound Group is more favorable than Lufax.

Dividends

Upbound Group pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. Lufax pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.1%. Upbound Group pays out 101.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lufax pays out -19.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Upbound Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Lufax is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Upbound Group has a beta of 1.77, suggesting that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lufax has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Upbound Group and Lufax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upbound Group	1.90%	34.53%	7.69%
Lufax	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.3% of Upbound Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.1% of Lufax shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Upbound Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Upbound Group beats Lufax on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upbound Group

Upbound Group, Inc. leases household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. It operates through four segments: Rent-A-Center, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. The company's brands, such as Rent-A-Center and Acima that facilitate consumer transactions across a range of store-based and virtual channels. It offers furniture comprising mattresses, tires, consumer electronics, appliances, tools, handbags, computers, smartphones, and accessories. It also provides merchandise on an installment sales basis; and the lease-to-own transaction to consumers who do not qualify for traditional financing, the lease to-own transaction through staffed or unstaffed kiosks located in third-party retailer's locations, and other virtual options. It operates retail installment sales stores under the Get It Now and Home Choice names; lease-to-own and franchised lease-to-own stores under the Rent-A-Centre, ColorTyme, and RimTyme names; and company-owned stores and e-commerce platform through rentacenter.com. The company was formerly known as Rent-A-Center, Inc. and changed its name to Upbound Group, Inc. in February 2023. Upbound Group, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is based in Plano, Texas.

About Lufax

Lufax Holding Ltd operates as a financial service empowering institution for small and micro businesses in China. The company offers loan products, including general unsecured loans and secured loans, as well as consumer finance loans. It also provides wealth management products, such as asset management plans, mutual fund products, private investment fund products, and trust products. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Shanghai, China.