Critical Contrast: Gentera (OTCMKTS:CMPRF) vs. American Express (NYSE:AXP)

American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Gentera (OTCMKTS:CMPRF) are both financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Express and Gentera”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Express	$63.16 billion	3.04	$8.37 billion	$12.14	22.02
Gentera	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.95	0.61

American Express has higher revenue and earnings than Gentera. Gentera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.3% of American Express shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.2% of Gentera shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Express shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

American Express pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Gentera pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 92.8%. American Express pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gentera pays out 56.5% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for American Express and Gentera, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Express	4	13	8	0	2.16
Gentera	0	0	0	0	N/A

American Express currently has a consensus target price of $253.09, indicating a potential downside of 5.33%. Given American Express’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe American Express is more favorable than Gentera.

Profitability

This table compares American Express and Gentera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Express	15.53%	32.94%	3.56%
Gentera	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

American Express beats Gentera on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. The company’s products and services include credit card, charge card, banking, and other payment and financing products; network services; expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. It also provides merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, point-of-sale marketing, and information products and services for merchants; and fraud prevention services, as well as the design and operation of customer loyalty programs. In addition, the company operates lounges at airports under Centurion Lounge brand name. It sells its products and services to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations through mobile and online applications, affiliate marketing, customer referral programs, third-party service providers and business partners, direct mail, telephone, in-house sales teams, and direct response advertising. American Express Company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Gentera

Gentera, S. A. B. de C. V. provides various financial products and services in Mexico and Peru. The company offers individual and group credit, savings, insurance, and transactional channels services to entrepreneurs and microentrepreneurs. It also provides insurance agent services; and personal loans; as well as operates as a bank commission agent administrator that offers financial operations, payment of services, and cellphone top-ups services. The company was formerly known as Financiera Compartamos, S.A. B. de C. V. Gentera, S. A. B. de C. V. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.