Mastercard (MA) Competitors

Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor V or MA?

Visa received 840 more outperform votes than Mastercard when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.34% of users gave Visa an outperform vote while only 73.07% of users gave Mastercard an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Visa	Outperform Votes 2395 80.34%	Underperform Votes 586 19.66%
Mastercard	Outperform Votes 1555 73.07%	Underperform Votes 573 26.93%

Which has more volatility and risk, V or MA?

Visa has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mastercard has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor V or MA?

In the previous week, Visa had 38 more articles in the media than Mastercard. MarketBeat recorded 88 mentions for Visa and 50 mentions for Mastercard. Visa's average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Mastercard's score of 1.02 indicating that Visa is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Visa	55 Very Positive mention(s)	12 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mastercard	32 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is V or MA a better dividend stock?

Visa pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Visa pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mastercard pays out 21.9% 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. Visa has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years and Mastercard has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Visa is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better valuation & earnings, V or MA?

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
Visa	$36.80B	17.28	$19.74B	$9.92	34.52
Mastercard	$28.17B	17.70	$12.87B	$13.89	39.37

Do analysts rate V or MA?

Visa presently has a consensus target price of $362.38, suggesting a potential upside of 5.83%. Mastercard has a consensus target price of $607.96, suggesting a potential upside of 11.18%. Given Mastercard's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Mastercard is more favorable than Visa.

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

Is V or MA 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
Visa	54.27%	54.79%	22.62%
Mastercard	45.71%	188.47%	30.05%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of V or MA?

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

Summary

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