Critical Survey: Western Union (NYSE:WU) vs. Ryvyl (NASDAQ:RVYL)

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

Risk and Volatility

Western Union has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ryvyl has a beta of 3.74, meaning that its stock price is 274% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.8% of Western Union shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.4% of Ryvyl shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Western Union shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Ryvyl shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Western Union and Ryvyl, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Union	4	9	0	0	1.69
Ryvyl	1	1	0	0	1.50

Western Union currently has a consensus price target of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.60%. Given Western Union’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Western Union is more favorable than Ryvyl.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Western Union and Ryvyl”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Union	$4.21 billion	0.64	$934.20 million	$2.64	3.14
Ryvyl	$56.00 million	0.18	-$26.83 million	($8.52)	-0.04

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Union	21.83%	66.11%	7.04%
Ryvyl	-42.81%	-565.67%	-18.69%

Summary

Western Union beats Ryvyl on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Ryvyl

Ryvyl Inc., a technology company, engages in the development, marketing, and sale of blockchain-based payment solutions in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company's blockchain-based systems facilitate, record, and store a volume of tokenized assets representing cash or data on a blockchain-based ledger. Its products include QuickCard Payment System, a physical and virtual payment card processing management system, including software that facilitates on and off ramp e-wallet management; Coyni, a digital token platform, which offers custodial assurance by utilizing its stable coin and blockchain technology in a closed-loop ecosystem; and ChargeSavvy, an end-to-end POS solution comprising software and hardware for the restaurant and hospitality industry. It serves customers in various industries, including foreign exchange, retail, and e-commerce sectors. The company was formerly known as GreenBox POS and changed its name to Ryvyl Inc. in October 2022. Ryvyl Inc. is based in San Diego, California.