Head to Head Analysis: Western Union (NYSE:WU) and OLO (NYSE:OLO)

Western Union (NYSE:WU) and OLO (NYSE:OLO) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.4% of OLO shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Western Union shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 39.3% of OLO shares are owned 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.

Volatility and Risk

Western Union has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OLO has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Western Union and OLO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Union	16.07%	120.39%	7.44%
OLO	-5.89%	0.34%	0.30%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Western Union and OLO”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Union	$4.20 billion	0.85	$626.00 million	$1.95	5.40
OLO	$271.87 million	4.55	-$58.29 million	($0.10)	-75.50

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Western Union and OLO, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Union	2	8	0	0	1.80
OLO	0	1	2	0	2.67

Western Union presently has a consensus price target of $12.63, suggesting a potential upside of 19.90%. OLO has a consensus price target of $8.67, suggesting a potential upside of 14.79%. Given Western Union’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Western Union is more favorable than OLO.

Summary

Western Union beats OLO on 8 of the 14 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 OLO

Olo, Inc. engages in the provision of cloud-based, on-demand commerce platform for multi-location restaurant brands. It enables digital ordering and delivery. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in New York, NY.