Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) versus Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK) Critical Analysis

Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) and Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Consumer Portfolio Services and Argo Blockchain”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Consumer Portfolio Services	$201.17 million	1.13	$45.34 million	$0.87	12.63
Argo Blockchain	$62.60 million	1.15	-$35.03 million	($0.81)	-1.40

Consumer Portfolio Services has higher revenue and earnings than Argo Blockchain. Argo Blockchain is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Consumer Portfolio Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.6% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.4% of Argo Blockchain shares are owned by institutional investors. 69.0% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Consumer Portfolio Services has a beta of 2, suggesting that its stock price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Argo Blockchain has a beta of 1.88, suggesting that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Consumer Portfolio Services and Argo Blockchain, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consumer Portfolio Services	0	0	0	0	0.00
Argo Blockchain	0	2	0	0	2.00

Argo Blockchain has a consensus price target of $1.45, indicating a potential upside of 28.32%. Given Argo Blockchain’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Argo Blockchain is more favorable than Consumer Portfolio Services.

Profitability

This table compares Consumer Portfolio Services and Argo Blockchain’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consumer Portfolio Services	5.59%	7.64%	0.69%
Argo Blockchain	-93.70%	-4,172.69%	-50.32%

Summary

Consumer Portfolio Services beats Argo Blockchain on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Consumer Portfolio Services

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It is involved in the purchase and service of retail automobile contracts originated by franchised automobile dealers and select independent dealers in the sale of new and used automobiles, light trucks, and passenger vans. The company, through its automobile contract purchases, offers indirect financing to the customers of dealers with limited credit histories or past credit problems. It also serves as an alternative source of financing for dealers, facilitating sales to customers who are not able to obtain financing from commercial banks, credit unions, and the captive finance companies. In addition, the company acquires installment purchase contracts in merger and acquisition transactions; purchases immaterial amounts of vehicle purchase money loans from non-affiliated lenders. It services its automobile contracts through its branches in California, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Argo Blockchain

Argo Blockchain plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mining business worldwide. It engages in mining purpose-built computers for complex cryptographic algorithms. The company was formerly known as GoSun Blockchain Limited and changed its name to Argo Blockchain plc in December 2017. Argo Blockchain plc was incorporated in 2017 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.