Head to Head Contrast: Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) & Paymentus (NYSE:PAY)

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) and Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Sezzle has a beta of 6.66, indicating that its stock price is 566% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paymentus has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.0% of Sezzle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Paymentus shares are held by institutional investors. 49.5% of Sezzle shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 55.7% of Paymentus shares are held by 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sezzle and Paymentus”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sezzle	$450.28 million	8.85	$133.13 million	$4.60	25.73
Paymentus	$1.20 billion	3.74	$66.94 million	$0.66	53.86

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

Profitability

This table compares Sezzle and Paymentus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sezzle	30.35%	83.48%	37.55%
Paymentus	6.24%	15.26%	12.80%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Sezzle and Paymentus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sezzle	0	4	4	1	2.67
Paymentus	0	5	1	1	2.43

Sezzle presently has a consensus price target of $146.50, suggesting a potential upside of 23.79%. Paymentus has a consensus price target of $38.67, suggesting a potential upside of 8.78%. Given Sezzle’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Sezzle is more favorable than Paymentus.

Summary

Sezzle beats Paymentus on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc. operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks. In addition, the company provides Sezzle Virtual Card that allows consumers to access the Sezzle Platform in the form of close-end installment loans and shop with merchants that are not integrated with Sezzle; Sezzle Anywhere, a paid subscription service that allows consumers to use their Sezzle Virtual Card at any merchant online or in-store; Sezzle Premium, a paid subscription service that allows its consumers to access large, non-integrated premium merchants; and Sezzle Up, an opt-in feature of the Sezzle Platform. Further, it offers Long-Term Lending through collaboration with third-party lenders and Product Innovation. Sezzle Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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.