Analyzing Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) & Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN)

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) and Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

40.6% of Medallion Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of Iris Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.4% of Medallion Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Iris Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Medallion Financial and Iris Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medallion Financial	$194.55 million	1.11	$55.08 million	$1.69	5.54
Iris Energy	$188.76 million	10.66	-$28.95 million	N/A	N/A

Medallion Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Iris Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Medallion Financial and Iris Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medallion Financial	13.72%	9.52%	1.48%
Iris Energy	-36.10%	-8.01%	-7.37%

Volatility & Risk

Medallion Financial has a beta of 2.11, suggesting that its stock price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iris Energy has a beta of 3.54, suggesting that its stock price is 254% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Medallion Financial and Iris Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medallion Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Iris Energy	0	2	9	1	2.92

Iris Energy has a consensus price target of $19.50, indicating a potential upside of 82.07%. Given Iris Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Iris Energy is more favorable than Medallion Financial.

Summary

Iris Energy beats Medallion Financial on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Medallion Financial

Medallion Financial Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Recreation Lending, Home Improvement Lending, Commercial Lending, and Taxi Medallion Lending. The company offers loans that finance consumer purchases of recreational vehicles, boats, and other consumer recreational equipment; consumer financing for window, siding, and roof replacement, swimming pool installations, and other home improvement projects; senior and subordinated loans for the purchase of equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or purchase or improvement of an existing business; and taxi medallion loans to individuals and small to mid-size businesses. It also provides debt, mezzanine, and equity investment capital to companies in various commercial industries; and raises deposits and conducts other banking activities. Medallion Financial Corp. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in New York City, New York.

About Iris Energy

Iris Energy Limited owns and operates bitcoin mining data centers. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.