Equifax (NYSE: EFX) and China Finance Online Co. Limited (NASDAQ:JRJC) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitabiliy and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Equifax and China Finance Online Co. Limited, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Equifax | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 2.64 |
| China Finance Online Co. Limited | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Equifax presently has a consensus target price of $146.60, indicating a potential upside of 0.80%. Given Equifax’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equifax is more favorable than China Finance Online Co. Limited.
Dividends
Equifax pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. China Finance Online Co. Limited does not pay a dividend. Equifax pays out 33.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Finance Online Co. Limited has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.
Risk and Volatility
Equifax has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Finance Online Co. Limited has a beta of 2.57, indicating that its stock price is 157% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Equifax and China Finance Online Co. Limited’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Equifax | $3.29 billion | 5.32 | $1.22 billion | $4.72 | 30.81 |
| China Finance Online Co. Limited | $61.02 million | 0.56 | -$37.92 million | ($0.62) | -2.42 |
Equifax has higher revenue and earnings than China Finance Online Co. Limited. China Finance Online Co. Limited is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equifax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Equifax and China Finance Online Co. Limited’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Equifax | 17.44% | 24.88% | 10.51% |
| China Finance Online Co. Limited | -20.77% | -31.23% | -17.17% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
89.6% of Equifax shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.4% of China Finance Online Co. Limited shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Equifax shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 30.4% of China Finance Online Co. Limited shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Equifax beats China Finance Online Co. Limited on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Equifax
Equifax Inc. is a global provider of information solutions and human resources business process outsourcing services for businesses, governments and consumers. The Company operates in four segments: U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), International, Workforce Solutions and Global Consumer Solutions. Its products and services are based on databases of consumer and business information derived from various sources, including credit, financial assets, telecommunications and utility payments, employment, income, demographic and marketing data. It uses statistical techniques and software tools to analyze all available data, creating customized insights, decision-making solutions and processing services for its clients. It helps consumers understand, manage and protect their personal information and make more informed financial decisions. The Company also provides information, technology and services to support debt collections and recovery management.
About China Finance Online Co. Limited
China Finance Online Co. Limited is a Web-based financial services company in China. The Company provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers. The Company operates through three segments: commodities brokerage services, online financial information and advisory service, and other related services in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Hong Kong brokerage services. The Company offers financial software, information services and securities investment advisory services to retail investors in China. Through its subsidiary, Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co., Ltd., the Company provides financial database and analytics to institutional customers, including domestic financial, research, academic and regulatory institutions.
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