Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Free Report) and PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Western Union shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of PAR Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Western Union and PAR Technology”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Western Union | $4.04 billion | 0.51 | $499.60 million | $1.23 | 5.34 |
| PAR Technology | $475.66 million | 1.51 | -$84.46 million | ($1.87) | -9.29 |
Western Union has higher revenue and earnings than PAR Technology. PAR Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Union, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Western Union pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.3%. PAR Technology pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Western Union pays out 76.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. PAR Technology pays out -16.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Profitability
This table compares Western Union and PAR Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Western Union | 9.79% | 50.89% | 5.87% |
| PAR Technology | -16.04% | -2.57% | -1.56% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Western Union and PAR Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Western Union | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.46 |
| PAR Technology | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.50 |
Western Union presently has a consensus target price of $7.55, indicating a potential upside of 14.93%. PAR Technology has a consensus target price of $26.17, indicating a potential upside of 50.61%. Given PAR Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe PAR Technology is more favorable than Western Union.
Volatility and Risk
Western Union has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PAR Technology has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Western Union beats PAR Technology on 10 of the 16 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 PAR Technology
PAR Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides omnichannel cloud-based hardware and software solutions to the restaurant and retail industries worldwide. The Restaurant/Retail segment offers PUNCHH, an enterprise-grade customer loyalty and engagement solution; MENU, an eCommerce platform for restaurant brands; BRINK POS, an open cloud, point-of-sale solution; PAR PAYMENT SERVICES, a merchant services business that enables electronic payment and processing services for businesses; and DATA CENTRAL, a back-office solution that leverages business intelligence and automation technologies. This segment also offers Point-of-Sale Hardware; wireless headsets for drive-thru order-taking; and kitchen display systems, payment devices, cash drawers, printers, and other peripherals. In addition, this segment provides services, such as hardware repair, installation and implementation, training, and on-site and technical support services. The Government segment provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions; mission systems operations and maintenance, and commercial software products; systems engineering support and software-based solutions; satellite and teleport facility operation and maintenance, engineering, and installation services comprising inside and outside plant services, and maintenance of infrastructure and information systems; satellite ground system support comprising operations and maintenance, sustainment, upgrades, communications security management, anomaly response/resolution, process improvement, emergency response, and disaster recovery services; and information technology infrastructure library services to the United States Department of Defense, intelligence community (IC), and other federal agencies. This segment also offers various IC support services, systems integration, situational awareness solutions, and mission readiness support services. The company was founded in 1968 and is based in New Hartford, New York.
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