American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Free Report) and Mentor Capital (OTCMKTS:MNTR – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
84.3% of American Express shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Express shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 23.7% of Mentor Capital shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for American Express and Mentor Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Express | 1 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 2.42 |
| Mentor Capital | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Express and Mentor Capital”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 | 2.99 | $10.83 billion | $16.03 | 19.75 |
| Mentor Capital | $170,000.00 | 5.24 | -$570,000.00 | ($0.03) | -1.37 |
American Express has higher revenue and earnings than Mentor Capital. Mentor Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares American Express and Mentor Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Express | 15.13% | 33.95% | 3.73% |
| Mentor Capital | -261.84% | -23.05% | -18.62% |
Risk & Volatility
American Express has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mentor Capital has a beta of -0.77, indicating that its stock price is 177% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
American Express beats Mentor Capital on 13 of the 15 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 Mentor Capital
Mentor Capital, Inc. is a private equity firm specializing in acquisitions and emerging growth investments. The firm provides passive equity funding and liquidity to smaller companies and owners in the medical, marijuana and social use cannabis companies. It invests in shelf IPO’s and public and private companies and seeks to provide public market access to owners of small private companies. The firm specializes in pre-IPO investments in Cannabis companies. It seeks to invest in energy sector of oil and gas, coal, uranium. In case of shelf IPO’s, the firm prefers to invest in companies with sales greater than $40 million. It prefers to take significant position in its portfolio companies. The firm invests only in companies that have earnings. Mentor Capital, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is based in Plano, Texas.
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