MasterCard and Visa to Open Near 52-Week Highs

Ending a strong week in the stock market, business services providers Mastercard

and Visa

reached new 52-week highs of $384.99 and $98.60 per share, respectively, in Friday's trading session.

recently announced an alliance with Western Union

to make electronic payments more efficient and convenient, and also an investment in mobile banking start-up mFoundry. MasterCard is headquartered in Purchase, N.Y., and offers transaction processing, ATM and travelers check services. It was founded in 1966 and now has a market cap of $43.0 billion. The PEG ratio is in line with the industry average and the forward earnings multiple is about the same as the industry average P/E ratio. MasterCard has a 0.2% dividend yield, a long-term EPS growth forecast of 18.5%, and the return on equity is 42.5%. The share price is up more than 9% in the past week and more than 69% higher than a year ago. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed both American Express

and Discover Financial

.

recently reported strong fourth-quarter and full-year results, increased its share buyback program by $1 billion and boosted its quarterly dividend. It also just announced a mobile payment platform for developing counties. Visa operates a worldwide retail electronic payments network. The San Francisco-based company sports a market cap is $79.0 billion. The price-to-earnings ratio is higher than the industry average, but so is the operating margin. The PEG ratio is in line with the industry average. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 19.3%. The consensus recommendation of 33 analysts following the stock is to buy it; their mean price target is more than 7% higher than the current share price. The share price is almost 40% higher year to date. The stock also has outperformed American Express and Discover over the past six months.