Contrasting Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) & Sparta Commercial Services (OTCMKTS:SRCO)

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) and Sparta Commercial Services (OTCMKTS:SRCO) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Priority Technology and Sparta Commercial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Priority Technology	0	1	2	0	2.67
Sparta Commercial Services	0	0	0	0	0.00

Priority Technology currently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 49.63%. Given Priority Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Priority Technology is more favorable than Sparta Commercial Services.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

11.5% of Priority Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 76.3% of Priority Technology shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Sparta Commercial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Priority Technology has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sparta Commercial Services has a beta of -0.69, meaning that its stock price is 169% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Priority Technology and Sparta Commercial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Priority Technology	1.96%	-15.86%	1.52%
Sparta Commercial Services	-811.63%	N/A	-1,061.05%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Priority Technology and Sparta Commercial Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Priority Technology	$851.91 million	0.73	-$1.31 million	($0.42)	-19.10
Sparta Commercial Services	$190,000.00	44.27	-$640,000.00	($0.04)	-5.75

Sparta Commercial Services has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Priority Technology. Priority Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sparta Commercial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Priority Technology beats Sparta Commercial Services on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Priority Technology

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. operates as a payment technology company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB) Payments, Business-To-Business (B2B) Payments, and Enterprise Payments. It offers SMB payments processing solutions for B2C transactions through independent sales organizations, financial institutions, independent software vendors, and other referral partners through its MX product suite, which includes MX Connect and MX Merchant products, such as MX Insights, MX Storefront, MX Retail, MX Invoice, MX B2B and ACH.com, and others, which provides flexible and customizable set of business applications that helps to manage critical business work functions and revenue performance to resellers and merchant clients using core payment processing. The company also offers CPX, a platform that offers accounts payable automation solutions, including virtual card, purchase card, ACH +, dynamic discounting, or check. In addition, it provides curated managed services; payment-adjacent technologies to facilitate the acceptance of electronic payments from customers; and Plastiq payables management software, which helps businesses in improving cash flow with instant access to working capital. Further, the company offers embedded finance and BaaS solutions to enterprise customers to modernize legacy platforms and accelerate software partners' strategies to monetize payments; and managed services solutions that provide audience-specific programs for institutional partners and other third parties; and consulting and development solutions. It serves SMB, and enterprises, as well as distribution partners, including retail and wholesale independent sales organizations, financial institutions, and independent software vendors. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

About Sparta Commercial Services

Sparta Commercial Services, Inc. develops, markets, and manages business websites and mobile applications for smartphones and tablets under the iMobileApp name. It offers mobile applications for vehicle dealerships, racetracks, private clubs, country clubs, schools and entertainment venues, restaurants, grocery stores, and various other merchant types. The company also owns and manages websites, which sell motorcycle, recreational vehicle, and truck title history reports for consumers, retailers, municipals, nonprofits, auction houses, banks, and insurance companies; and designs, launches, maintains, and hosts websites for businesses, as well as provides text messaging services. In addition, it offers eCommerce, customer relationship management development and integration, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and online reviews website services to its clients. Further, the company provides an equipment-leasing product for local and state agencies that helps to finance their essential equipment needs, including police motorcycles, cruisers, buses, fire trucks, and EMS equipment; and a range of hemp-derived cannabinol products through newworldhealthcbd.com. The company was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in New York, New York.