Critical Review: MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) vs. Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS)

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) and Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares MARA and Consumer Portfolio Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MARA	27.48%	-8.40%	-6.92%
Consumer Portfolio Services	5.59%	7.59%	0.67%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for MARA and Consumer Portfolio Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MARA	0	6	5	0	2.45
Consumer Portfolio Services	0	0	0	0	0.00

MARA presently has a consensus price target of $22.80, indicating a potential upside of 59.44%. Given MARA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe MARA is more favorable than Consumer Portfolio Services.

Volatility & Risk

MARA has a beta of 6.1, meaning that its share price is 510% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consumer Portfolio Services has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.5% of MARA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of MARA shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 69.0% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by company 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MARA and Consumer Portfolio Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MARA	$656.38 million	7.53	$261.17 million	$1.36	10.51
Consumer Portfolio Services	$202.25 million	0.90	$45.34 million	$0.79	10.77

MARA has higher revenue and earnings than Consumer Portfolio Services. MARA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Consumer Portfolio Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

MARA beats Consumer Portfolio Services on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc. operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc. in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

About Consumer Portfolio Services

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It is involved in the purchase and service of retail automobile contracts originated by franchised automobile dealers and select independent dealers in the sale of new and used automobiles, light trucks, and passenger vans. The company, through its automobile contract purchases, offers indirect financing to the customers of dealers with limited credit histories or past credit problems. It also serves as an alternative source of financing for dealers, facilitating sales to customers who are not able to obtain financing from commercial banks, credit unions, and the captive finance companies. In addition, the company acquires installment purchase contracts in merger and acquisition transactions; purchases immaterial amounts of vehicle purchase money loans from non-affiliated lenders. It services its automobile contracts through its branches in California, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.