American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Free Report) and CompoSecure (NASDAQ:CMPO – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.
Profitability
This table compares American Express and CompoSecure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Express | 15.36% | 32.65% | 3.56% |
| CompoSecure | -5.63% | -14.87% | 36.45% |
Risk and Volatility
American Express has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CompoSecure has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Express | $65.95 billion | 2.94 | $10.13 billion | $14.01 | 19.67 |
| CompoSecure | $420.57 million | 2.60 | $19.24 million | ($1.14) | -9.36 |
American Express has higher revenue and earnings than CompoSecure. CompoSecure 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 & Insider Ownership
84.3% of American Express shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.6% of CompoSecure shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Express shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 75.0% of CompoSecure shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for American Express and CompoSecure, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Express | 2 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 2.27 |
| CompoSecure | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2.88 |
American Express currently has a consensus price target of $302.57, indicating a potential upside of 9.77%. CompoSecure has a consensus price target of $16.19, indicating a potential upside of 51.71%. Given CompoSecure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CompoSecure is more favorable than American Express.
Summary
American Express beats CompoSecure on 10 of the 14 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 CompoSecure
CompoSecure, Inc. manufactures and designs metal, composite, and proprietary financial transaction cards in the United States and internationally. Its primary metal form factors include embedded, metal veneer lite, metal veneer, and full metal products. The company also offers Arculus Cold Storage Wallet, a three-factor authentication solution, which supports specific digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, non-fungible tokens and others. In addition, it offers Payments + Arculus Secure Authenticate, white-labeled cold storage wallet, Payments + Arculus Cold Storage, and Payments + Arculus Authentication + Arculus Cold Storage. The company serves financial institutions, plastic card manufacturers, system integrators, and security specialists. CompoSecure, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is based in Somerset, New Jersey.
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