Reviewing Western Union (NYSE:WU) & World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD)

World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD) and Western Union (NYSE:WU) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

World Acceptance has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Union has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares World Acceptance and Western Union’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
World Acceptance	13.80%	18.69%	7.18%
Western Union	13.64%	123.71%	7.43%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.6% of World Acceptance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.9% of World Acceptance shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Western Union shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares World Acceptance and Western Union”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
World Acceptance	$573.21 million	1.16	$77.35 million	$13.26	8.55
Western Union	$4.36 billion	0.94	$626.00 million	$1.69	7.21

Western Union has higher revenue and earnings than World Acceptance. Western Union is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than World Acceptance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for World Acceptance and Western Union, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
World Acceptance	1	0	0	0	1.00
Western Union	3	7	0	0	1.70

World Acceptance presently has a consensus target price of $56.00, suggesting a potential downside of 50.63%. Western Union has a consensus target price of $13.14, suggesting a potential upside of 7.91%. Given Western Union’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Western Union is more favorable than World Acceptance.

Summary

Western Union beats World Acceptance on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About World Acceptance

World Acceptance Corporation engages in consumer finance business in the United States. The company provides short-term small installment loans, medium-term larger installment loans, related credit insurance, and ancillary products and services to individuals. It offers income tax return preparation and filing services; and automobile club memberships. It serves individuals with limited access to other sources of consumer credit, such as banks, credit unions, other consumer finance businesses, and credit card lenders. World Acceptance Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices. The Consumer Services segments offers bill payment services, which facilitate payments for consumers, businesses, and other organizations, as well as money order services, retail foreign exchange services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and digital wallets. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.