PCTY vs WK vs PAYC Stock Comparison

Paylocity Holding, Workiva and Paycom Software Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PCTY Paylocity Holding Corp
$176.46 +23.1% 1M +15.9% 1Y
Market cap
$9.21B
P/E
34.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.77B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
3 wins
WK Workiva Inc
$86.44 +24.1% 1M -3.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.71B
P/E
100.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$965.70M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
4 wins
PAYC Paycom Software, Inc.
$268.16 +21.6% 1M +34.4% 1Y
Market cap
$11.91B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.14B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionPCTYWKPAYCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.21B $4.71B $11.91B PAYC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.2x 100.1x 24.4x PAYC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.4x 24.1x 22.8x PCTY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.0% +19.7% +9.2% WK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.2% 4.9% 22.8% PAYC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.0% 173.8% 31.3% WK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x -16.7x 0.8x WK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.9% -3.1% +34.4% PAYC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.8%/yr -9.9%/yr -12.8%/yr PCTY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.1% 45.6% 47.3% PCTY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 66/100 63/100 WK

Percentile Scorecard

PCTYWKPAYC

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

AxisPCTYWKPAYC
Valuation 54 #48 of 102 50 #52 of 102 52 #50 of 102
Growth 68 #32 of 98 97 #4 of 98 59 #41 of 98
Profitability 86 #14 of 95 69 #30 of 95 98 #3 of 95
Financial Health 57 #48 of 109 68 #36 of 109 40 #66 of 109
Shareholder Returns 57 #28 of 64 49 #33 of 64 65 #23 of 64
Overall 64 66 63
  • PCTY ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • WK ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • PAYC ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPCTYWKPAYCSPY
1 month +23.1%+24.1%+21.6% -0.8%
3 months +35.6%+55.1%+77.2% +3.5%
6 months +74.1%+60.4%+116.4% +7.0%
Year to date +15.7%+0.2%+68.3% +12.2%
1 year +15.9%-3.1%+34.4% +13.0%
3 years +1.2%-7.6%+11.6% +86.3%
3 years, per year +0.4%-2.6%+3.7% +23.1%
5 years -40.3%-40.7%-49.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -9.8%-9.9%-12.8% +11.0%
10 years +300.2%+427.1%+418.4% +258.0%
10 years, per year +14.9%+18.1%+17.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePCTYWKPAYCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.1%45.6%47.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.4%44.4%42.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.140.050.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.38-0.070.73 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -68.9%-72.5%-79.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.7%-7.4%-2.3% -1.8%
52-week high $177.67$93.31$274.60 $779.14
52-week low $95.10$44.31$113.59 $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.

MultiplePCTYWKPAYC
P/E now vs peer median 35.4xmedian 28.8x 102.2xmedian 28.8x 25.2xmedian 28.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.8x 4.8xmedian 2.8x 5.5xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.5xmedian 17.7x 88.4xmedian 17.7x 14.9xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.9xmedian 15.8x 23.3xmedian 15.8x 20.7xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 7.7xmedian 3.2x -48.2xmedian 3.2x 20.8xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.38median 0.85 3.00median 0.85 1.01median 0.85

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 monthsPCTYWKPAYC
Revenue $1.77B $965.70M $2.14B
Gross profit $1.23B $774.58M $1.79B
Operating income $385.99M $31.45M $648.40M
Net income $269.74M $47.04M $487.60M
Free cash flow $497.10M $200.52M $575.10M
R&D $221.39M $216.63M $258.90M
EPS (diluted) $4.92 $0.84 $10.62
Cash & equivalents $271.92M $252.48M $198.00M
Total debt $81.25M $71.21M $900.00M
Shares (diluted) 54.77M 56.06M 45.91M
Enterprise value $8.31B $1.28B $10.81B

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
MetricPCTYWKPAYC
P/E 35.4x 102.2x 25.2x
P/FCF 18.9x 23.3x 20.7x
P/Operating cash flow 17.6x 23.2x 14.8x
P/S 5.3x 4.8x 5.5x
P/B 7.7x -48.2x 20.8x
P/Tangible book 8.3x -40.0x 22.0x
EV/EBITDA 18.5x 88.4x 14.9x
EV/EBIT 23.9x 125.0x 19.4x
EV/Revenue 5.2x 4.1x 5.9x
EV/FCF 18.5x 19.6x 21.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.3x 19.5x 15.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.38 3.00 1.01

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPCTYWKPAYC
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.0% 19.7% 9.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.7% 18.4% 11.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 25.0% 10.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.9% 21.0% 11.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 27.0% 138.3% 17.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 35.5% 31.6% 14.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 18.8% 170.7% 17.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 24.2% 34.4% 15.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 22.6% 170.7% 44.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 25.6% 34.1% 25.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 27.5% 90.8% 43.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.6% 79.1% 21.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 22.7% 94.6% 60.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.0% 84.3% 24.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPCTYWKPAYC
Gross margin 69.2% 80.2% 83.7%
EBITDA margin 28.1% 4.6% 39.5%
Operating margin 21.8% 3.3% 30.3%
Pretax margin 21.9% 5.4% 32.0%
Net margin 15.2% 4.9% 22.8%
FCF margin 28.1% 20.8% 26.9%
Operating cash flow margin 30.1% 20.9% 37.4%
Return on equity 22.5% – 70.5%
Return on assets 5.2% 3.4% 9.7%
Return on invested capital 21.0% 173.8% 31.3%
Return on capital employed 22.1% 4.6% 36.7%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.7x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 4.3x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 7.8% 12.9% 4.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPCTYWKPAYC
Debt / assets 1.7% 5.2% 17.3%
Debt / equity 0.1x -0.7x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x -16.7x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.2x 0.4x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 75.0% 107.1% 89.0%
Equity / assets 25.0% -7.1% 11.0%
Interest coverage – 2.5x 39.8x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.1x 1.3x 0.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.57 2.27 3.09

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPCTYWKPAYC
Dividend yield – – 0.6%
Net buyback yield 4.1% 3.7% 12.5%
Shareholder yield 4.1% 3.7% 13.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusPCTYWKPAYC
Forward P/E 21.4xFY2027 24.1xFY2026 22.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.25FY2027 $3.59FY2026 $11.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.7%FY2027 +101.7%FY2026 +27.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.7% +17.8% +14.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.94BFY2027 $1.01BFY2026 $2.08BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.6%FY2027 +14.5%FY2026 +1.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.6% +25.9% +11.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPCTYWKPAYC
Held by institutions 85.3% 88.9% 90.3%
Institutions holding 466 305 594
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% +1.4% -8.5%
Institutions buying 273 184 294
Institutions selling 154 86 222
Buyers to sellers 1.77 2.14 1.32

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.

PCTYWKPAYC
PCTY 1.00 0.62 0.74
WK 0.62 1.00 0.47
PAYC 0.74 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PCTY, WK and PAYC?

Paycom Software (PAYC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paylocity Holding (PCTY) $9.21B, Workiva (WK) $4.71B, Paycom Software (PAYC) $11.91B.

Which stock is cheaper, PCTY, WK and PAYC?

Paycom Software (PAYC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 34.2x, Workiva (WK) 100.1x, Paycom Software (PAYC) 24.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) is cheapest (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.4x, Workiva (WK) 24.1x, Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Workiva (WK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +11.0%, Workiva (WK) +19.7%, Paycom Software (PAYC) +9.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paycom Software (PAYC) has the highest net margin (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 15.2%, Workiva (WK) 4.9%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.8%). On return on invested capital, Workiva (WK) leads (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.0%, Workiva (WK) 173.8%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 31.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paycom Software (PAYC) returned the most: Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +15.9%, Workiva (WK) -3.1%, Paycom Software (PAYC) +34.4%. Over five years, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) compounded fastest (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) -9.8%/yr, Workiva (WK) -9.9%/yr, Paycom Software (PAYC) -12.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) has been the steadiest (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 42.1%, Workiva (WK) 45.6%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 47.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PCTY, WK and PAYC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Paycom Software (PAYC) 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.