Research Solutions (NASDAQ:RSSS) & Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Critical Contrast

Research Solutions (NASDAQ:RSSS) and Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Research Solutions and Global Payments”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Research Solutions	$48.21 million	2.02	-$3.79 million	($0.15)	-19.87
Global Payments	$10.11 billion	2.59	$1.57 billion	$6.18	17.07

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

Profitability

This table compares Research Solutions and Global Payments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Research Solutions	-8.41%	-6.59%	-1.96%
Global Payments	15.54%	12.21%	5.64%

Volatility & Risk

Research Solutions has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Payments has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Research Solutions and Global Payments, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Research Solutions	0	0	2	0	3.00
Global Payments	1	11	14	0	2.50

Research Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 84.56%. Global Payments has a consensus price target of $134.33, indicating a potential upside of 27.32%. Given Research Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Research Solutions is more favorable than Global Payments.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

33.6% of Research Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Global Payments shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.9% of Research Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Global Payments shares are owned 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

Global Payments beats Research Solutions on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Research Solutions

Research Solutions, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides research cloud-based software-as-a-service software platform and related services to corporate, academic, government and individual researchers in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It provides Discover platform that facilitates search discovery across virtually all scientific, technical, and medical (STM) articles available, including free basic search solutions and advanced search tools, which include the Resolute.ai and scite.ai products, a tools that allows for searching and identifying relevant research and find insights in other datasets adjacent to STM content, such as clinical trial, patent, life science and medtech regulatory information, competitor and technology landscape insights in addition to searching the customer’s internal datasets. The company also offers Article Galaxy, a solution that allows research organizations to load their entitlements, consisting of subscriptions, discount or token packages, and their existing library of articles. In addition, it provides Manage platform, a references solution that allows users to access the article inside the platform including setting up personal folders or team folders and allows researchers to markup and take notes on the articles in a supported browser on a desktop or tablet. Further, the company’s platform facilitates the sale of published STM content sold as individual articles. The company was formerly known as Derycz Scientific, Inc. and changed its name to Research Solutions, Inc. in March 2013. Research Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Henderson, Nevada.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added solutions and services, such as point-of-sale software, analytics and customer engagement, payroll and reporting, and human capital management. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments, account payables, and electronic payment alternatives solutions for businesses and governments. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.