Sterling Check (STER) Competitors

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) and Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, community ranking, dividends, risk and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer STER or KFRC?

Kforce received 389 more outperform votes than Sterling Check when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.24% of users gave Kforce an outperform vote while only 43.40% of users gave Sterling Check an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sterling Check	Outperform Votes 23 43.40%	Underperform Votes 30 56.60%
Kforce	Outperform Votes 412 62.24%	Underperform Votes 250 37.76%

Which has more volatility and risk, STER or KFRC?

Sterling Check has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kforce has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, STER or KFRC?

Kforce has higher revenue and earnings than Sterling Check. Sterling Check is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kforce, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sterling Check	$719.64M	2.09	-$120K	-$0.10	-153.80
Kforce	$1.48B	0.82	$61.08M	$2.89	21.39

Do institutionals & insiders believe in STER or KFRC?

84.3% of Sterling Check shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.8% of Kforce shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.9% of Sterling Check shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Kforce shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer STER or KFRC?

In the previous week, Sterling Check and Sterling Check both had 5 articles in the media. Kforce's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Sterling Check's score of 0.11 indicating that Kforce is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sterling Check	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Kforce	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate STER or KFRC?

Sterling Check presently has a consensus target price of $15.30, suggesting a potential downside of 0.52%. Kforce has a consensus target price of $68.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.01%. Given Kforce's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Kforce is more favorable than Sterling Check.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sterling Check	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
Kforce	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is STER or KFRC more profitable?

Kforce has a net margin of 3.78% compared to Sterling Check's net margin of -1.19%. Kforce's return on equity of 36.39% beat Sterling Check's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sterling Check	-1.19%	8.47%	4.36%
Kforce	3.78%	36.39%	17.18%

Summary

Kforce beats Sterling Check on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.