Head to Head Survey: X Financial (XYF) versus Its Competitors

X Financial (NYSE:XYF) is one of 120 publicly-traded companies in the “Consumer Finance” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare X Financial to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares X Financial and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X Financial	9.94%	9.14%	5.20%
X Financial Competitors	10.42%	-15.79%	2.02%

Dividends

X Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.8%. X Financial pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Finance” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.2% and pay out 34.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. X Financial is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.1% of X Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.7% of shares of all “Consumer Finance” companies are held by institutional investors. 31.6% of X Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.0% of shares of all “Consumer Finance” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for X Financial and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
X Financial Competitors	896	3365	5297	276	2.50

As a group, “Consumer Finance” companies have a potential upside of 22.32%. Given X Financial’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe X Financial has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk and Volatility

X Financial has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, X Financial’s peers have a beta of 1.26, meaning that their average stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares X Financial and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
X Financial	$1.09 billion	$209.43 million	2.81
X Financial Competitors	$3.62 billion	$385.17 million	4.49

X Financial’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than X Financial. X Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

X Financial peers beat X Financial on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About X Financial

X Financial is a China-based financial technology company that operates an online platform for consumer lending. The platform connects individual borrowers seeking credit with financial institutions and other funding partners. Its services include unsecured personal credit products, such as Xiaoying Card Loan, which provides eligible customers with access to online credit. The company uses digital processes to support customer acquisition, credit assessment, loan facilitation and servicing. Founded in 2014, X Financial serves customers in China.