Global Payments (GPN) Competitors

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) and Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) are both large-cap data processing & outsourced services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, risk and dividends.

Do analysts recommend GPN or PAYX?

Global Payments presently has a consensus price target of $110.91, suggesting a potential upside of 35.39%. Paychex has a consensus price target of $149.11, suggesting a potential upside of 2.16%. Given Global Payments' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Global Payments is more favorable than Paychex.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Payments	1 Sell rating(s)	18 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Paychex	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.90

Is GPN or PAYX more profitable?

Paychex has a net margin of 29.75% compared to Global Payments' net margin of 15.48%. Paychex's return on equity of 45.01% beat Global Payments' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Payments	15.48%	12.33%	5.82%
Paychex	29.75%	45.01%	14.77%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, GPN or PAYX?

Paychex has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Global Payments. Global Payments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paychex, 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
Global Payments	$10.11B	1.98	$1.57B	$6.20	13.21
Paychex	$5.57B	9.44	$1.66B	$4.80	30.41

Which has more risk & volatility, GPN or PAYX?

Global Payments has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paychex has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GPN or PAYX a better dividend stock?

Global Payments pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Paychex pays an annual dividend of $4.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Global Payments pays out 16.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Paychex pays out 90.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Paychex has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Paychex is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in GPN or PAYX?

89.8% of Global Payments shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.5% of Paychex shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Global Payments shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.4% of Paychex shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer GPN or PAYX?

In the previous week, Paychex had 44 more articles in the media than Global Payments. MarketBeat recorded 57 mentions for Paychex and 13 mentions for Global Payments. Global Payments' average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Paychex's score of 0.65 indicating that Global Payments is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Global Payments	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Paychex	28 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	8 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Paychex beats Global Payments on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.