There have been shifts in share prices for MoneySupermarket and GoCompare this week, so how do the comparison sites compare for investment potential? MoneySupermarket has seen a 10% share price dip after a disappointing Q3 trading statement. The comparison site has performed well for investors up to now, with more and more customers desperate to find better deals on day to day bills, it has seen share prices rise by 108% over the past five years. Todays plummet saw stock fall to 347.10p at the time of writing though, after Q3 results revealed a 5% drop in revenues in the site’s money division.

MoneySupermarket blamed ‘continuing challenges in product availability’ for the slowdown in its second biggest division, and it was not all bad news for the results, its home services and insurances revenues were up 21% and 3% respectively. So, can the price comparison site bounce back and deliver a better deal to investors?

While its board is confident that it will still meet full year expectations, the weakness in its money division is expected to last all year which has not gone unnoticed by analysts. Most have maintained a ‘hold’ rating, and broker Liberium has also pointed out that the insurance market “is still affected by a difficult premium situation.”, which could affect further growth within this division. Some had a more optimistic outlook though, broker, Stifel for example had a ‘buy’ recommendation and it forecasts growth of between 7% and 8% for this and the next financial year.

Competitor GoCompare has fared better of late with its share price surging 30% since September when it announced the success of its AutoSave initiative. AutoSave automatically switches customers onto the best deal and the initiative has already hit its 25% end-of-year take-up target, with GoCompare saying they expect it to be transformative for group earnings by 2022. The comparison site’s share price was up at 100p at the time of writing, having jumped 16% in the past week. So, can GoCompare continue to outperform its rivals or is this upward trend likely to stall? Its July interim figures were far from dazzling, showing year-on-year growth of just 0.3%, so the share price growth has probably been buoyed by AutoSave and the recent £12.5m acquisition of the Look After My Bills Service. Some consider that GoCompare also looks pricey with 21.1 times forward earnings and a forecast yield of just 1.4%.

The price comparison market is becoming increasingly competitive and its worth noting that MoneySupermarket has recently launched its own autosave feature which could pull some of the market share. Some analysts are confident about GoCompare’s potential though – several have reiterated a ‘buy’ rating and Liberium has raised its target price to 145.00p. Currently, GoCompare looks to be delivering the better deal but whether that continues depends on its success at developing new, successful initiatives to stop its customers switching.