Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Competitors

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) and Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is FI or ADP more profitable?

Automatic Data Processing has a net margin of 19.76% compared to Fiserv's net margin of 15.31%. Automatic Data Processing's return on equity of 80.86% beat Fiserv's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fiserv	15.31%	17.93%	5.97%
Automatic Data Processing	19.76%	80.86%	6.83%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FI or ADP?

Fiserv received 167 more outperform votes than Automatic Data Processing when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.77% of users gave Fiserv an outperform vote while only 58.06% of users gave Automatic Data Processing an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Fiserv	Outperform Votes 808 63.77%	Underperform Votes 459 36.23%
Automatic Data Processing	Outperform Votes 641 58.06%	Underperform Votes 463 41.94%

Which has better earnings and valuation, FI or ADP?

Automatic Data Processing has higher revenue and earnings than Fiserv. Automatic Data Processing is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fiserv, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fiserv	$383.42M	269.00	$3.13B	$5.66	32.62
Automatic Data Processing	$18.78B	6.52	$3.75B	$9.59	31.35

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of FI or ADP?

91.0% of Fiserv shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Automatic Data Processing shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Fiserv shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Automatic Data Processing shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is FI or ADP a better dividend stock?

Fiserv pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Automatic Data Processing pays an annual dividend of $6.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fiserv pays out 5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Automatic Data Processing pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Automatic Data Processing has increased its dividend for 49 consecutive years. Automatic Data Processing is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend FI or ADP?

Fiserv presently has a consensus price target of $230.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.56%. Automatic Data Processing has a consensus price target of $302.30, suggesting a potential upside of 0.57%. Given Fiserv's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Fiserv is more favorable than Automatic Data Processing.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fiserv	2 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	21 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Automatic Data Processing	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.10

Does the media favor FI or ADP?

In the previous week, Fiserv had 51 more articles in the media than Automatic Data Processing. MarketBeat recorded 96 mentions for Fiserv and 45 mentions for Automatic Data Processing. Automatic Data Processing's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Fiserv's score of 0.62 indicating that Automatic Data Processing is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fiserv	44 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	17 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Automatic Data Processing	26 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, FI or ADP?

Fiserv has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Automatic Data Processing has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fiserv beats Automatic Data Processing on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.