Mastercard (MA) Competitors

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and Visa (NYSE:V) 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 community ranking, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and earnings.

Does the media prefer MA or V?

In the previous week, Visa had 23 more articles in the media than Mastercard. MarketBeat recorded 117 mentions for Visa and 94 mentions for Mastercard. Visa's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat Mastercard's score of 1.22 indicating that Visa is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Mastercard	75 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Visa	98 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer MA or V?

Mastercard presently has a consensus target price of $608.57, indicating a potential upside of 5.73%. Visa has a consensus target price of $366.13, indicating a potential upside of 1.72%. Given Mastercard's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mastercard is more favorable than Visa.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mastercard	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	23 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87
Visa	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	20 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.81

Which has more volatility & risk, MA or V?

Mastercard has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Visa has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MA or V?

97.3% of Mastercard shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.2% of Visa shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Mastercard shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Visa shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MA or V?

Visa received 838 more outperform votes than Mastercard when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.37% of users gave Visa an outperform vote while only 73.15% of users gave Mastercard an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Mastercard	Outperform Votes 1561 73.15%	Underperform Votes 573 26.85%
Visa	Outperform Votes 2399 80.37%	Underperform Votes 586 19.63%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, MA or V?

Visa has higher revenue and earnings than Mastercard. Visa is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mastercard, 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
Mastercard	$29.07B	18.05	$12.87B	$14.26	40.36
Visa	$37.62B	17.65	$19.74B	$9.95	36.17

Is MA or V more profitable?

Visa has a net margin of 54.27% compared to Mastercard's net margin of 45.71%. Mastercard's return on equity of 188.47% beat Visa's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mastercard	45.71%	188.47%	30.05%
Visa	54.27%	54.79%	22.62%

Is MA or V a better dividend stock?

Mastercard pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Visa pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Visa pays out 23.7% 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. Mastercard has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Visa has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Visa is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Mastercard beats Visa on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.