Analyzing Forge Global (NYSE:FRGE) and Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS)

Forge Global (NYSE:FRGE) and Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Forge Global has a beta of 2.18, suggesting that its share price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intercorp Financial Services has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.7% of Forge Global shares are held by institutional investors. 4.5% of Forge Global shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Forge Global and Intercorp Financial Services”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Forge Global	$92.88 million	6.71	-$66.33 million	($5.20)	-8.65
Intercorp Financial Services	$1.67 billion	3.34	$542.25 million	$4.82	10.08

Intercorp Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Forge Global. Forge Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intercorp Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Forge Global and Intercorp Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Forge Global	-71.87%	-29.06%	-24.63%
Intercorp Financial Services	28.74%	16.69%	2.01%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Forge Global and Intercorp Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Forge Global	1	5	0	0	1.83
Intercorp Financial Services	0	1	2	0	2.67

Forge Global presently has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential downside of 6.67%. Intercorp Financial Services has a consensus target price of $48.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.23%. Given Intercorp Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Intercorp Financial Services is more favorable than Forge Global.

Summary

Intercorp Financial Services beats Forge Global on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Forge Global

Forge Global Holdings, Inc. operates a financial services platform in California. The company's platform solutions include trading solutions, a platform that connects investors with private company stockholders and enables them to facilitate private share transactions; and custody solutions, a non-depository trust company that enables clients to securely custody and manage assets through an online portal. It also provides data solutions, such as information and insight to navigate, analyze, and make investment decisions to market participants in the private market. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Intercorp Financial Services

Intercorp Financial Services Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers banking, insurance, wealth management, and payment services for retail and commercial clients in Peru. The company provides loans, credit facilities, deposits, and current accounts; life annuity products with single-premium payment and conventional life insurance products, as well as other retail insurance products; and brokerage and investment management services. It engages in the development, management, operation, and processing of credit and debit cards; facilitation of payments and services through commercial stores; and installation and maintenance of infrastructure for transactions through electronic commerce modality and networks of payment methods processors. The company was incorporated in 1897 and is based in Lima, Peru. Intercorp Financial Services Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Intercorp Perú Ltd.