Reviewing Western Union (NYSE:WU) and Fiverr International (NYSE:FVRR)

Fiverr International (NYSE:FVRR) and Western Union (NYSE:WU) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Fiverr International and Western Union, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fiverr International	0	3	8	0	2.73
Western Union	3	8	0	0	1.73

Fiverr International currently has a consensus price target of $33.82, indicating a potential upside of 44.34%. Western Union has a consensus price target of $13.61, indicating a potential upside of 11.38%. Given Fiverr International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fiverr International is more favorable than Western Union.

Risk & Volatility

Fiverr International has a beta of 1.73, meaning that its stock price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Union has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fiverr International and Western Union’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fiverr International	$361.38 million	2.51	$3.68 million	$0.22	106.50
Western Union	$4.37 billion	0.95	$626.00 million	$1.69	7.23

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fiverr International	2.38%	4.87%	1.63%
Western Union	14.12%	120.76%	7.83%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.0% of Fiverr International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Western Union shares are held by institutional investors. 15.9% of Fiverr International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Western Union shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

About Fiverr International

Fiverr International Ltd. operates an online marketplace worldwide. Its platform enables sellers to sell their services and buyers to buy them. The company's platform includes various categories in ten verticals, including graphic and design, digital marketing, writing and translation, video and animation, music and audio, programming and tech, business, data, lifestyle, and photography. It also offers value-added products, including subscription-based content marketing, back-office, learning and development offerings, creative talent, and freelancer management platforms. In addition, the company provides a suite of professional solutions that enable businesses to engage with freelancers; Fiverr Pro, a marketplace; Fiverr Certified, a storefront to access certified experts for partner vendors; Fiverr Enterprise, a gateway to source and manage on-demand and long-term freelancers. Further, it offers various value-added products, including Promoted Gigs which allows sellers to advertise their services on the platform; and Seller Plus, a subscription program that equips sellers with advanced tools. The company's buyers include businesses of various sizes, as well as sellers comprise a group of freelancers and agencies. Fiverr International Ltd. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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.