Analyzing Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) and Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR)

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) and Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.9% of Shift4 Payments shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Fidelity National Information Services shares are held by institutional investors. 30.6% of Shift4 Payments shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Fidelity National Information Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Shift4 Payments and Fidelity National Information Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shift4 Payments	4.04%	23.86%	5.87%
Fidelity National Information Services	14.37%	15.35%	6.79%

Volatility & Risk

Shift4 Payments has a beta of 1.64, suggesting that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelity National Information Services has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Shift4 Payments and Fidelity National Information Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shift4 Payments	0	3	18	0	2.86
Fidelity National Information Services	0	10	11	0	2.52

Shift4 Payments presently has a consensus price target of $100.15, suggesting a potential downside of 1.88%. Fidelity National Information Services has a consensus price target of $89.68, suggesting a potential upside of 4.19%. Given Fidelity National Information Services’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fidelity National Information Services is more favorable than Shift4 Payments.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Shift4 Payments and Fidelity National Information Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shift4 Payments	$2.56 billion	3.53	$86.20 million	$1.84	55.47
Fidelity National Information Services	$9.82 billion	4.72	-$6.65 billion	$2.51	34.29

Shift4 Payments has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fidelity National Information Services. Fidelity National Information Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Shift4 Payments, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Shift4 Payments beats Fidelity National Information Services on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE FOUR) provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions in the United States. Its payments platform provides omni-channel card acceptance and processing solutions, including end-to-end payment processing for various payment types; merchant acquiring; proprietary omni-channel gateway; complementary software integrations; integrated and mobile point-of-sale (POS) solutions; security and risk management solutions; and reporting and analytical tools, as well as tokenization, risk management/underwriting, payment device and chargeback management, fraud prevention, and gift card solutions. The company also offers suite of technology solutions, such as Lighthouse, a cloud-based business intelligence tool that includes customer engagement, social media management, online reputation management, scheduling, and product pricing, as well as reporting and analytics; integrated POS for merchants business; and Skytab, a mobile payment solution. In addition, it provides marketplace technology that enable seamless integrations into third-party applications, which includes online delivery services, payroll, timekeeping, and other human resource services. Further, the company offers merchant management, training and education, marketing management, and incentives tracking solutions. Additionally, it provides merchant underwriting, onboarding and activation, training, risk management, and support services; and software integrations and compliance management, and partner support and services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

About Fidelity National Information Services

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. engages in the provision of financial services technology solutions for financial institutions, businesses, and developers worldwide. It operates through Banking Solutions, Capital Market Solutions, and Corporate and Other segments. The company provides core processing and ancillary applications; mobile and online banking; fraud, risk management, and compliance; card and retail payment; electronic funds transfer and network; wealth and retirement; and item processing and output solutions. It also offers trading and asset, lending, leveraged and syndicated loan markets, and treasury and risk solutions. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.