Reviewing Enova International (NYSE:ENVA) and American Express (NYSE:AXP)

American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Enova International (NYSE:ENVA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.3% of American Express shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.4% of Enova International shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Express shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Enova International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares American Express and Enova International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Express	15.07%	34.12%	3.77%
Enova International	10.31%	26.66%	5.55%

Risk & Volatility

American Express has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enova International has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares American Express and Enova International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Express	$72.23 billion	3.19	$10.83 billion	$16.48	20.69
Enova International	$3.15 billion	2.04	$308.39 million	$13.49	19.13

American Express has higher revenue and earnings than Enova International. Enova International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for American Express and Enova International, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Express	1	11	11	1	2.50
Enova International	0	0	8	1	3.11

American Express currently has a consensus price target of $372.84, suggesting a potential upside of 9.35%. Enova International has a consensus price target of $247.83, suggesting a potential downside of 3.94%. Given American Express’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Express is more favorable than Enova International.

Summary

American Express beats Enova International on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. The company’s products and services include credit card, charge card, banking, and other payment and financing products; network services; expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. It also provides merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, point-of-sale marketing, and information products and services for merchants; and fraud prevention services, as well as the design and operation of customer loyalty programs. In addition, the company operates lounges at airports under Centurion Lounge brand name. It sells its products and services to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations through mobile and online applications, affiliate marketing, customer referral programs, third-party service providers and business partners, direct mail, telephone, in-house sales teams, and direct response advertising. American Express Company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Enova International

Enova International, Inc., a technology and analytics company, provides online financial services in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company provides installment loans; line of credit accounts; CSO programs, including arranging loans with independent third-party lenders and assisting in the preparation of loan applications and loan documents; and bank programs, such as marketing services and loan servicing for near-prime unsecured consumer installment loan. It offers money transfer services. It markets its financing products under the CashNetUSA, NetCredit, OnDeck, Headway Capital, Simplic, and Pangea names. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.