Head to Head Analysis: Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) versus Sezzle (OTC:SEZNL)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) and Sezzle (OTC:SEZNL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Discover Financial Services and Sezzle, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Discover Financial Services	0	12	7	0	2.37
Sezzle	0	0	0	0	N/A

Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus target price of $138.81, indicating a potential downside of 8.25%. Given Discover Financial Services’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Discover Financial Services is more favorable than Sezzle.

Profitability

This table compares Discover Financial Services and Sezzle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Discover Financial Services	13.78%	21.38%	2.10%
Sezzle	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Discover Financial Services and Sezzle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Discover Financial Services	$17.40 billion	2.18	$2.94 billion	$12.39	12.21
Sezzle	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Discover Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Sezzle.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.9% of Discover Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Discover Financial Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Discover Financial Services beats Sezzle on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Discover Financial Services

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts. The Payment Services segment operates the PULSE to access automated teller machines, debit, and electronic funds transfer network; and Diners Club International, a payments network that issues Diners Club branded charge cards and/or provides card acceptance services, as well as offers payment transaction processing and settlement services. The company was incorporated in 1960 and is based in Riverwoods, Illinois.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc. operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution at online stores and various brick-and-mortar retail locations that connects consumers with merchants. Its platform enables customers to make online purchases and split the payment for the purchase in four equal interest free payments over six weeks. Sezzle Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.