Reviewing MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) & Fiserv (NYSE:FI)

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Fiserv (NYSE:FI) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MediaAlpha and Fiserv”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaAlpha	$388.15 million	1.94	-$40.42 million	$0.17	66.54
Fiserv	$19.09 billion	6.34	$3.07 billion	$5.20	40.93

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Fiserv shares are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of MediaAlpha shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Fiserv shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares MediaAlpha and Fiserv’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaAlpha	1.41%	-11.98%	5.19%
Fiserv	15.22%	17.10%	5.61%

Risk and Volatility

MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fiserv has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for MediaAlpha and Fiserv, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaAlpha	0	1	6	0	2.86
Fiserv	0	3	21	2	2.96

MediaAlpha currently has a consensus target price of $21.57, suggesting a potential upside of 90.70%. Fiserv has a consensus target price of $224.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.25%. Given MediaAlpha’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MediaAlpha is more favorable than Fiserv.

Summary

Fiserv beats MediaAlpha on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides payments and financial services technology services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Merchant Acceptance, Financial Technology, and Payments and Network segments. The Merchant Acceptance segment provides merchant acquiring and digital commerce services; mobile payment services; security and fraud protection products; Clover, a cloud based POS and integrated commerce operating system for small and mid-sized businesses and independent software vendors; and Carat, an integrated operating system for large businesses. This segment distributes through various channels, including direct sales teams, strategic partnerships with agent sales forces, independent software vendors, financial institutions, and other strategic partners in the form of joint venture alliances, revenue sharing alliances, and referral agreement. The Financial Technology segment offers customer deposit and loan accounts, as well as manages an institution's general ledger and central information files. This segment also provides digital banking, financial and risk management, professional services and consulting, check processing, and other products and services. The Payments and Network segment offers card transactions, such as debit, credit, and prepaid card processing and services; funds access, debit payments, cardless ATM access, and surcharge-free ATM network; security and fraud protection products; card production; print services; and various network services, as well as non-card digital payment software and services, including bill payment, account-to-account transfers, person-to-person payments, electronic billing, and security and fraud protection products. It serves merchants, banks, credit unions, other financial institutions, and corporate clients. Fiserv, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.