Nayax (NASDAQ:NYAX) vs. Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Critical Analysis

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) and Nayax (NASDAQ:NYAX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Shift4 Payments and Nayax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shift4 Payments	2.20%	28.40%	4.61%
Nayax	1.74%	10.45%	2.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Shift4 Payments and Nayax, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shift4 Payments	2	10	11	0	2.39
Nayax	1	3	3	1	2.50

Shift4 Payments currently has a consensus target price of $56.36, indicating a potential upside of 40.94%. Nayax has a consensus target price of $73.46, indicating a potential upside of 53.01%. Given Nayax’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nayax is more favorable than Shift4 Payments.

Risk and Volatility

Shift4 Payments has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nayax has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Shift4 Payments and Nayax”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shift4 Payments	$4.18 billion	0.76	$119.00 million	$0.60	66.65
Nayax	$400.43 million	4.39	$35.52 million	$0.21	228.62

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.9% of Shift4 Payments shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.9% of Nayax shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Shift4 Payments shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Shift4 Payments beats Nayax on 10 of the 15 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 Nayax

Nayax Ltd., a fintech company, operates system and payment platform for multiple retailers in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, and rest of the world. The company offers AMIT 3.0, a machine-to-machine vending telemetry solution; Nayax Core, a management and monitoring software for vending machines and other unattended machines; MoMa, a mobile app for unattended machine; Tigapo back-office software suite, a cloud-based platform; EV Core, a smart, cloud-based management platform; Retail Management Cloud, a comprehensive attended retail management platform; Loyalty and Marketing Suite, a consumer engagement marketing and loyalty platform; Monyx Wallet, a digital wallet app enabling cashless payments with mobile phones; Weezmo, a consumer engagement and marketing platform; and Tigapo app, a proprietary mobile app to help family entertainment center businesses. It provides electric vehicle charging stations; VPOS Touch, a credit card reader cashless payment device; VPOS Fusion, a cashless payment card reader; ONYX, a contactless card reader and telemetry device; NOVA 156, an electronic cash register; DOT, a smart QR and barcode reader; UNO Plus and UNO 8, which are EMV and FeliCa contactless readers; EMV SOM, a PCI-PTS ready contactless EMV reader module; Nova Market, a cashless micro market and self-checkout solution; NOVA 55, an a handheld smart point of sale (POS) device; NOVA 45, a handheld mini smart terminals for attended POS; and Retail One, a universal retail solution that integrates directly with SAP. The company sells its products directly, as well as through resellers and distributors. It serves various verticals, including vending machines, coffee machines, unattended checkout counters, self-service kiosks, ticketing machines, car wash stations, gaming machines, amusement rides, laundromats, and EV charging stations. Nayax Ltd. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel.