Comparing Shift4 Payments (FOUR) & Its Peers

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) is one of 334 public companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Shift4 Payments to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.9% of Shift4 Payments shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Shift4 Payments shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Shift4 Payments and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shift4 Payments	2.34%	25.42%	4.32%
Shift4 Payments Competitors	-259.04%	-39.95%	-4.73%

Volatility and Risk

Shift4 Payments has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shift4 Payments’ rivals have a beta of 2.55, indicating that their average share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Shift4 Payments and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shift4 Payments	$4.18 billion	$119.00 million	51.95
Shift4 Payments Competitors	$6.95 billion	$1.14 billion	8.18

Shift4 Payments’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Shift4 Payments. Shift4 Payments is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Shift4 Payments and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shift4 Payments	1	11	11	0	2.43
Shift4 Payments Competitors	1930	6943	11706	447	2.51

Shift4 Payments presently has a consensus target price of $54.36, suggesting a potential upside of 30.82%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 4.95%. Given Shift4 Payments’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Shift4 Payments is more favorable than its rivals.

Summary

Shift4 Payments rivals beat Shift4 Payments on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc. provides payment processing and commerce technology for businesses. Its platform supports transactions made in person, online and through mobile channels, combining payment acceptance and processing with tools for managing sales and operations. The company serves merchants in industries including restaurants, hotels, retail, entertainment and sports venues. Its offerings include point-of-sale systems, payment gateways and related software, such as its SkyTab restaurant technology platform.