Head to Head Survey: Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) versus Cielo (OTCMKTS:CIOXY)

Cielo (OTCMKTS:CIOXY) and Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cielo and Sezzle”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cielo	$2.12 billion	1.07	$418.05 million	$0.16	5.25
Sezzle	$221.81 million	5.78	$7.10 million	$9.40	24.32

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Cielo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Sezzle shares are owned by institutional investors. 57.7% of Sezzle shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cielo and Sezzle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cielo	17.54%	12.28%	1.80%
Sezzle	25.29%	101.18%	18.90%

Volatility & Risk

Cielo has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sezzle has a beta of 9.72, meaning that its stock price is 872% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Cielo and Sezzle, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cielo	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sezzle	0	0	2	1	3.33

Sezzle has a consensus target price of $366.00, indicating a potential upside of 60.08%. Given Sezzle’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sezzle is more favorable than Cielo.

Summary

Sezzle beats Cielo on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cielo

Cielo S.A., through its subsidiaries, provides payment services in Brazil and the United States. The company provides services related to credit and debit cards, and other payment methods, including signing up of merchants and service providers; rental, installation, and maintenance of point-of-sale terminals; and data capture and processing of electronic and manual transactions, as well as the issuance and management of payment accounts. It also offers services related to the processing means of payments that involve cards, maintenance services, and contacts with merchants for acceptance of credit and debit cards; development and licensing of computer software; electronic transactions processing; and technology services for collection and management of accounts payable and receivable using the Internet. The company was formerly known as Companhia Brasileira de Meios de Pagamento and changed its name to Cielo S.A. in December 2009. Cielo S.A. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Barueri, Brazil.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc. operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks. In addition, the company provides Sezzle Virtual Card that allows consumers to access the Sezzle Platform in the form of close-end installment loans and shop with merchants that are not integrated with Sezzle; Sezzle Anywhere, a paid subscription service that allows consumers to use their Sezzle Virtual Card at any merchant online or in-store; Sezzle Premium, a paid subscription service that allows its consumers to access large, non-integrated premium merchants; and Sezzle Up, an opt-in feature of the Sezzle Platform. Further, it offers Long-Term Lending through collaboration with third-party lenders and Product Innovation. Sezzle Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.