ACIW vs GPN vs PCTY Stock Comparison

Aci Worldwide, Global Payments and Paylocity Holding Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ACIW Aci Worldwide, Inc.
$58.40 +16.5% 1M +22.6% 1Y
Market cap
$5.91B
P/E
26.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.82B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins
GPN Global Payments Inc
$99.62 +27.1% 1M +28.1% 1Y
Market cap
$26.48B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$10.23B
Div. yield
1.00%
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins
PCTY Paylocity Holding Corp
$174.09 +20.5% 1M +23.2% 1Y
Market cap
$9.27B
P/E
34.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.77B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Global Payments leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Global Payments 4, Aci Worldwide 4, Paylocity Holding 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACIWGPNPCTYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.91B $26.48B $9.27B GPN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.3x -28.8x 34.9x ACIW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.1x 7.8x 21.1x GPN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.0% +32.5% +11.0% GPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.4% -9.1% 15.2% PCTY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.8% 2.3% 21.0% PCTY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 4.8x -0.4x PCTY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.00% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.6% +28.1% +23.2% GPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.6%/yr -5.9%/yr -10.3%/yr ACIW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 34.9% 41.9% 42.0% ACIW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 65/100 48/100 63/100 ACIW

Percentile Scorecard

ACIWGPNPCTY

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACIWGPNPCTY
Valuation 71 #29 of 99 66 #34 of 99 52 #49 of 100
Growth 68 #31 of 94 26 #70 of 94 68 #32 of 97
Profitability 79 #20 of 90 64 #33 of 90 85 #15 of 94
Financial Health 60 #43 of 105 24 #80 of 105 57 #48 of 111
Shareholder Returns 48 #32 of 61 58 #26 of 61 56 #29 of 64
Overall 65 48 63
  • ACIW ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • GPN ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • PCTY ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACIWGPNPCTYSPY
1 month +16.5%+27.1%+20.5% -2.3%
3 months +1.8%+15.6%+24.6% -0.7%
6 months +31.9%+38.7%+59.7% +4.8%
Year to date +22.2%+28.7%+14.2% +10.3%
1 year +22.6%+28.1%+23.2% +10.3%
3 years +142.4%-12.4%+19.8% +73.0%
3 years, per year +34.4%-4.3%+6.2% +20.1%
5 years +89.0%-26.1%-41.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +13.6%-5.9%-10.3% +10.1%
10 years +222.3%+41.0%+325.2% +258.6%
10 years, per year +12.4%+3.5%+15.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureACIWGPNPCTYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 34.9%41.9%42.0% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.2%35.9%41.2% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.320.84-0.17 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.650.670.55 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.2%-58.8%-68.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.0%0.0%-2.0% -3.5%
52-week high $60.18$99.62$177.67 $779.14
52-week low $38.47$62.47$95.10 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACIWGPNPCTY
P/E now vs peer median 26.3xmedian 20.4x -28.8xmedian 20.4x 34.9xmedian 28.5x
P/S now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 2.2x 2.6xmedian 2.2x 5.2xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.6xmedian 13.7x 11.8xmedian 13.7x 18.2xmedian 16.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.0xmedian 16.4x 32.2xmedian 16.4x 18.7xmedian 16.2x
P/B now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 1.9x 1.1xmedian 1.9x 7.6xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.55median 1.02 0.62median 1.02 1.37median 0.90

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACIWGPNPCTY
Revenue $1.82B $10.23B $1.77B
Gross profit $893.35M $6.54B $1.23B
Operating income $338.68M $1.27B $385.99M
Net income $225.69M -$873.78M $269.74M
Free cash flow $311.41M $822.72M $497.10M
R&D $179.52M – $221.39M
EPS (diluted) $2.22 $-3.46 $4.92
Cash & equivalents $167.40M $5.41B $271.92M
Total debt $822.18M $23.56B $81.25M
Shares (diluted) 101.68M 270.12M 54.77M
Enterprise value $5.19B $4.92B $8.37B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACIWGPNPCTY
P/E 26.3x -28.8x 34.9x
P/FCF 19.0x 32.2x 18.7x
P/Operating cash flow 17.9x 16.0x 17.4x
P/S 3.2x 2.6x 5.2x
P/B 3.9x 1.1x 7.6x
P/Tangible book 3.9x 6.1x 8.2x
EV/EBITDA 18.6x 11.8x 18.2x
EV/EBIT 19.4x 35.2x 23.5x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 4.4x 5.1x
EV/FCF 21.1x 54.2x 18.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.9x 26.9x 17.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.55 0.62 1.37

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACIWGPNPCTY
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.0% 32.5% 11.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.9% 3.3% 14.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.5% 14.8% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 5.7% 14.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 0.1% -33.4% 27.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 34.9% -4.4% 35.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -10.1% -158.6% 18.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 44.8% -44.6% 24.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -7.1% -158.9% 22.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 48.0% -46.2% 25.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.9% -46.4% 27.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 35.3% -9.1% 23.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 6.0% -66.6% 22.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 37.8% -19.7% 24.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACIWGPNPCTY
Gross margin 49.1% 63.9% 69.2%
EBITDA margin 19.4% 36.8% 28.1%
Operating margin 18.6% 12.4% 21.8%
Pretax margin 16.8% 5.5% 21.9%
Net margin 12.4% -9.1% 15.2%
FCF margin 17.1% 8.0% 28.1%
Operating cash flow margin 18.1% 16.2% 30.1%
Return on equity 15.1% -3.5% 22.5%
Return on assets 7.3% -1.3% 5.2%
Return on invested capital 10.8% 2.3% 21.0%
Return on capital employed 14.3% 2.5% 22.1%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.2x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x -1.9x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 4.3% 1.3% 7.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACIWGPNPCTY
Debt / assets 26.6% 37.1% 1.7%
Debt / equity 0.5x 1.0x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 4.8x -0.4x
Debt / FCF 2.6x 28.6x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 51.6% 62.6% 75.0%
Equity / assets 48.4% 37.4% 25.0%
Interest coverage 6.4x 1.5x –
Current ratio 1.6x 0.8x 1.1x
Quick ratio 2.0x 0.7x 0.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.19 0.67 2.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACIWGPNPCTY
Dividend yield – 1.0% –
Net buyback yield 2.8% 5.9% 4.2%
Shareholder yield 2.8% 6.9% 4.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -28.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 30.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -1.7% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACIWGPNPCTY
Forward P/E 21.1xFY2026 7.8xFY2026 21.1xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $2.77FY2026 $12.82FY2026 $8.25FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +28.2%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026 -0.7%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +12.6% +18.0% +13.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.81BFY2026 $12.66BFY2026 $1.94BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +3.0%FY2026 +35.9%FY2026 +9.6%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +20.2% +8.4% -1.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACIWGPNPCTY
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 85.4%
Institutions holding 380 794 468
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% +7.4% +2.3%
Institutions buying 198 375 274
Institutions selling 132 308 155
Buyers to sellers 1.50 1.22 1.77

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACIWGPNPCTY
ACIW 1.00 0.49 0.49
GPN 0.49 1.00 0.43
PCTY 0.49 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACIW, GPN and PCTY?

Global Payments (GPN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Aci Worldwide (ACIW) $5.91B, Global Payments (GPN) $26.48B, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) $9.27B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACIW, GPN and PCTY?

Aci Worldwide (ACIW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 26.3x, Global Payments (GPN) -28.8x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 34.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Global Payments (GPN) is cheapest (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 21.1x, Global Payments (GPN) 7.8x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Global Payments (GPN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +7.0%, Global Payments (GPN) +32.5%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +11.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paylocity Holding (PCTY) has the highest net margin (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 12.4%, Global Payments (GPN) -9.1%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 15.2%). On return on invested capital, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) leads (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 10.8%, Global Payments (GPN) 2.3%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Global Payments (GPN) returned the most: Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +22.6%, Global Payments (GPN) +28.1%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +23.2%. Over five years, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) compounded fastest (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +13.6%/yr, Global Payments (GPN) -5.9%/yr, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) -10.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Global Payments (GPN) 1.00%. Aci Worldwide (ACIW) and Paylocity Holding (PCTY) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) has been the steadiest (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 34.9%, Global Payments (GPN) 41.9%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 42.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACIW, GPN and PCTY?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Global Payments (GPN) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.