Contrasting ITEX (OTCMKTS:ITEX) and Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH)

ITEX (OTCMKTS:ITEX) and Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.5% of Priority Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 32.0% of ITEX shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 76.3% of Priority Technology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ITEX and Priority Technology”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ITEX	$6.13 million	1.31	$700,000.00	N/A	N/A
Priority Technology	$755.61 million	1.11	-$1.31 million	($0.42)	-25.98

ITEX has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Priority Technology.

Volatility & Risk

ITEX has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Priority Technology has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for ITEX and Priority Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ITEX	0	0	0	0	0.00
Priority Technology	0	0	3	0	3.00

Priority Technology has a consensus price target of $14.33, indicating a potential upside of 31.38%. Given Priority Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Priority Technology is more favorable than ITEX.

Profitability

This table compares ITEX and Priority Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ITEX	N/A	N/A	N/A
Priority Technology	1.96%	-15.86%	1.52%

Summary

Priority Technology beats ITEX on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ITEX

ITEX Corporation operates a marketplace in which products and services are exchanged by marketplace members without exchanging cash in the United States. The company’s marketplace provides a forum for members to purchase from and sell their products and services to other members using ITEX dollars instead of United States dollars. It also administers the marketplace, as well as provides record-keeping and payment transaction processing services. In addition, the company services its member businesses through its independent licensed brokers and franchise network. ITEX Corporation was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

About Priority Technology

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. operates as a payment technology company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB) Payments, Business-To-Business (B2B) Payments, and Enterprise Payments. It offers SMB payments processing solutions for B2C transactions through independent sales organizations, financial institutions, independent software vendors, and other referral partners through its MX product suite, which includes MX Connect and MX Merchant products, such as MX Insights, MX Storefront, MX Retail, MX Invoice, MX B2B and ACH.com, and others, which provides flexible and customizable set of business applications that helps to manage critical business work functions and revenue performance to resellers and merchant clients using core payment processing. The company also offers CPX, a platform that offers accounts payable automation solutions, including virtual card, purchase card, ACH +, dynamic discounting, or check. In addition, it provides curated managed services; payment-adjacent technologies to facilitate the acceptance of electronic payments from customers; and Plastiq payables management software, which helps businesses in improving cash flow with instant access to working capital. Further, the company offers embedded finance and BaaS solutions to enterprise customers to modernize legacy platforms and accelerate software partners' strategies to monetize payments; and managed services solutions that provide audience-specific programs for institutional partners and other third parties; and consulting and development solutions. It serves SMB, and enterprises, as well as distribution partners, including retail and wholesale independent sales organizations, financial institutions, and independent software vendors. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.