Critical Analysis: Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) versus Worldline (OTCMKTS:WWLNF)

Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) and Worldline (OTCMKTS:WWLNF) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Heritage Global and Worldline’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heritage Global	20.60%	16.05%	11.90%
Worldline	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Heritage Global and Worldline, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heritage Global	0	0	0	0	0.00
Worldline	0	2	0	1	2.67

Institutional & Insider Ownership

33.5% of Heritage Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Heritage Global shares are owned 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.

Volatility & Risk

Heritage Global has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worldline has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heritage Global and Worldline”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heritage Global	$60.54 million	0.99	$12.48 million	$0.28	5.71
Worldline	$4.99 billion	N/A	-$884.49 million	N/A	N/A

Heritage Global has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Worldline.

Summary

Heritage Global beats Worldline on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Heritage Global

Heritage Global Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset services company with focus on financial and industrial asset transactions. The company operates in three segments: Auction and Liquidation, Refurbishment & Resale, and Brokerage. It provides a suite of market making, acquisitions, refurbishment, dispositions, valuations, and secured lending services. The company focuses on identifying, valuing, acquiring, and monetizing underlying tangible assets. It acts as an adviser, as well as a principal, acquiring, or brokering manufacturing facilities; surplus industrial machinery and equipment; industrial inventories; and charged-off receivable portfolios. The company was formerly known as Counsel RB Capital Inc. and changed its name to Heritage Global, Inc. in August 2013. Heritage Global, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Worldline

Worldline SA provides payments and transactional services to financial institutions, merchants, corporations, and government agencies in Northern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Merchant Services; Financial Services; and Mobility & e-Transactional Services segments. The Merchant Services segment offers commercial acquiring, terminal, omnichannel payment acceptance, and digital retail services. The Financial Services segment provides issuing processing, acquiring processing, digital banking, and account payments services. The Mobility & e-Transactional Services segment offers trusted digitization, e-ticketing, and e-consumer and mobility. The company was formerly known as Atos Worldline S.A.S. and changed its name to Worldline SA in April 2014. Worldline SA was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Puteaux, France.