Fiserv (FI) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in 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. 0.7% of Fiserv shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Automatic Data Processing shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor FI or ADP?

In the previous week, Automatic Data Processing had 17 more articles in the media than Fiserv. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Automatic Data Processing and 27 mentions for Fiserv. Fiserv's average media sentiment score of 1.02 beat Automatic Data Processing's score of 0.99 indicating that Fiserv is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fiserv	19 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Automatic Data Processing	32 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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 63.1% 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 raised 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.

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%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, FI or ADP?

Automatic Data Processing has higher revenue and earnings than Fiserv. Fiserv is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Automatic Data Processing, 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	242.74	$3.13B	$5.66	29.66
Automatic Data Processing	$19.04B	6.66	$3.75B	$9.77	31.97

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FI or ADP?

Fiserv received 172 more outperform votes than Automatic Data Processing when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.84% of users gave Fiserv an outperform vote while only 57.89% of users gave Automatic Data Processing an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Fiserv	Outperform Votes 814 63.84%	Underperform Votes 461 36.16%
Automatic Data Processing	Outperform Votes 642 57.89%	Underperform Votes 467 42.11%

Which has more volatility & risk, FI or ADP?

Fiserv has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Automatic Data Processing has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FI or ADP?

Fiserv presently has a consensus price target of $220.27, suggesting a potential upside of 31.22%. Automatic Data Processing has a consensus price target of $305.64, suggesting a potential downside of 2.15%. Given Fiserv's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities 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)	22 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89
Automatic Data Processing	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.18

Summary

Fiserv beats Automatic Data Processing on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.