Paychex (PAYX) Competitors

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) and Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends and media sentiment.

Is ADP or PAYX a better dividend stock?

Automatic Data Processing pays an annual dividend of $6.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Paychex pays an annual dividend of $4.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Automatic Data Processing pays out 61.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Paychex pays out 94.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Automatic Data Processing has increased its dividend for 49 consecutive years and Paychex has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Which has more risk & volatility, ADP or PAYX?

Automatic Data Processing has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paychex has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ADP or PAYX?

Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus target price of $314.33, suggesting a potential upside of 4.16%. Paychex has a consensus target price of $150.70, suggesting a potential upside of 9.01%. Given Paychex's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Paychex is more favorable than Automatic Data Processing.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Automatic Data Processing	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.08
Paychex	1 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.91

Does the media refer more to ADP or PAYX?

In the previous week, Automatic Data Processing had 6 more articles in the media than Paychex. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Automatic Data Processing and 39 mentions for Paychex. Paychex's average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Automatic Data Processing's score of 1.48 indicating that Paychex is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Automatic Data Processing	38 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Paychex	33 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, ADP or PAYX?

Automatic Data Processing has higher revenue and earnings than Paychex. Automatic Data Processing is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paychex, 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
Automatic Data Processing	$20.56B	5.95	$4.08B	$9.98	30.24
Paychex	$5.57B	8.94	$1.66B	$4.57	30.25

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in ADP or PAYX?

80.0% of Automatic Data Processing shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.5% of Paychex shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Automatic Data Processing shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.4% of Paychex shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ADP or PAYX more profitable?

Paychex has a net margin of 29.75% compared to Automatic Data Processing's net margin of 19.84%. Automatic Data Processing's return on equity of 72.84% beat Paychex's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Automatic Data Processing	19.84%	72.84%	7.33%
Paychex	29.75%	45.01%	14.77%

Summary

Paychex beats Automatic Data Processing on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.