EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW – Get Free Report) and Katapult (NASDAQ:KPLT – 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 institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
99.8% of EZCORP shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of Katapult shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of EZCORP shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Katapult shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility and Risk
EZCORP has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Katapult has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| EZCORP | 9.97% | 13.99% | 7.49% |
| Katapult | 3.60% | -26.41% | 10.86% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings for EZCORP and Katapult, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| EZCORP | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2.75 |
| Katapult | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
EZCORP presently has a consensus target price of $38.80, suggesting a potential upside of 27.21%. Given EZCORP’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe EZCORP is more favorable than Katapult.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares EZCORP and Katapult”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| EZCORP | $1.58 billion | 1.18 | $109.61 million | $1.98 | 15.40 |
| Katapult | $291.76 million | 0.08 | $1.37 million | $1.37 | 3.28 |
EZCORP has higher revenue and earnings than Katapult. Katapult is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EZCORP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
EZCORP beats Katapult on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About EZCORP
EZCORP, Inc. provides pawn services in the United States and Latin America. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Other Investments. The company offers pawn loans collateralized by tangible personal property, jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments. It also retails merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from pawn lending operations and pre-owned merchandise purchased from customers. In addition, the company provides EZ+, a web-based application that allow customers to manage their pawn transactions, layaways, and loyalty rewards online. Further, it operates under the EZPAWN, Value Pawn & Jewelry, Empeño Fácil, Cash Apoyo Efectivo, GuatePrenda, and MaxiEfectivo brands. EZCORP, Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
About Katapult
Katapult Holdings, Inc., an e-commerce focused financial technology company, provides e-commerce point-of-sale lease-purchase options for nonprime consumers in the United States. The company's technology platform provides nonprime consumers with a lease purchase option to enable them to obtain durable goods from its network of e-commerce retailers. It also offers Katapult Pay, a one-time use virtual card technology that makes lease purchasing and transactions. The company was formerly known as Cognical Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Katapult Holdings, Inc. in February 2020. The company is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
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