Paychex vs Paylocity
PAYX and PCTY side by side. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How PAYX and PCTY compare
Paychex is the larger company, worth 4.4 times as much as Paylocity ($39.9B against $9.1B).
On earnings, Paychex is cheaper: it trades at 22.2× trailing earnings, against 34.7× for Paylocity.
Paychex grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (14.0% versus 11.0% for Paylocity).
Paychex keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 27.4% compared with 15.2% at Paylocity.
Paychex pays a dividend yielding 5.1%; Paylocity does not pay one.
Paychex scores higher on the StockData Score (20 against 19 for Paylocity), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | PAYX | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $39.9B | $9.1B |
| Share price | $112.12 | $170.91 |
| Change, 1 year | −4.5% | 20.8% |
| Change, 5 years | −10.0% | −39.0% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.76 | 1.14 |
| Employees | 18K | 6,900 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 20 (better) | 19 |
| Valuation score | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Growth score | 3 | 5 (better) |
| Performance score | 3 | 6 (better) |
| Health score | 4 | 5 (better) |
| Dividend score | 6 (better) | 0 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 22.2× (better) | 34.7× |
| P/S | 6.0× | 5.1× (better) |
| P/B | 10.8× | 7.4× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 14.4× (better) | 17.7× |
| P/FCF | 19.8× | 18.2× (better) |
| PEG | 5.08 | 1.36 (better) |
| FCF yield | 5.1% | 5.5% (better) |
| Fair value | $125.36 | $188.01 |
| Margin of safety | 10.6% (better) | 9.1% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 14.0% (better) | 11.0% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 9.9% | 22.7% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 11.9% | 18.8% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 13.3% | 22.4% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 10.0% | 31.3% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 74.4% (better) | 69.2% |
| Operating margin | 39.2% (better) | 21.8% |
| Net margin | 27.4% (better) | 15.2% |
| FCF margin | 30.5% (better) | 28.1% |
| Return on equity | 47.1% (better) | 22.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 26.9% | 30.1% (better) |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.23 (better) | 0.00 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.20 | – |
| Interest coverage | 9.7× | – |
| Current ratio | 1.28 (better) | 1.09 |
| Altman Z-score | 3.26 (better) | 2.52 |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 8 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 5.1% | – |
| Payout ratio | 90.0% | – |
| Years of dividend growth | 15 | – |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 11.9% | – |
| Buyback yield | 1.1% | 4.4% (better) |
| Shareholder yield | 6.2% (better) | 4.4% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 83.3% | 87.8% |
| Held by insiders | 10.1% | 21.9% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$3.6M (better) | −$26.4M |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 5.9% | 7.2% |
Go deeper
- PAYX stock overview
- PAYX income statement
- PAYX valuation and score
- PCTY stock overview
- PCTY income statement
- PCTY valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.