Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Competitors

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) and Fiserv (NYSE:FI) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, profitability, risk and dividends.

Which has better valuation & earnings, ADP or FI?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Automatic Data Processing	$19.20B	6.43	$3.75B	$9.37	32.37
Fiserv	$383.42M	320.37	$3.07B	$5.20	41.52

Which has more risk & volatility, ADP or FI?

Automatic Data Processing has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fiserv has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend ADP or FI?

Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus price target of $291.27, suggesting a potential downside of 3.95%. Fiserv has a consensus price target of $224.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.75%. Given Fiserv's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fiserv is more favorable than Automatic Data Processing.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Automatic Data Processing	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Fiserv	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	21 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.96

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ADP or FI?

Fiserv received 150 more outperform votes than Automatic Data Processing when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.50% of users gave Fiserv an outperform vote while only 58.18% of users gave Automatic Data Processing an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Automatic Data Processing	Outperform Votes 640 58.18%	Underperform Votes 460 41.82%
Fiserv	Outperform Votes 790 63.50%	Underperform Votes 454 36.50%

Is ADP or FI more profitable?

Automatic Data Processing has a net margin of 19.72% compared to Fiserv's net margin of 15.22%. Automatic Data Processing's return on equity of 82.36% beat Fiserv's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Automatic Data Processing	19.72%	82.36%	6.89%
Fiserv	15.22%	17.10%	5.61%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ADP or FI?

80.0% of Automatic Data Processing shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Fiserv shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Automatic Data Processing shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Fiserv shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to ADP or FI?

In the previous week, Automatic Data Processing had 2 more articles in the media than Fiserv. MarketBeat recorded 60 mentions for Automatic Data Processing and 58 mentions for Fiserv. Fiserv's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Automatic Data Processing's score of 1.07 indicating that Fiserv is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Automatic Data Processing	32 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fiserv	44 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ADP or FI a better dividend stock?

Automatic Data Processing pays an annual dividend of $6.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fiserv pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Automatic Data Processing pays out 65.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fiserv pays out 5.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Automatic Data Processing has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years. Automatic Data Processing is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Fiserv beats Automatic Data Processing on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.