SThree (STEM) Competitors

Hays (LON:HAS) and SThree (LON:STEM) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and valuation.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, HAS or STEM?

SThree has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hays. Hays is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SThree, 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
Hays	£6.91B	0.16	-£4.87M	-£0.31	-221.67
SThree	£1.47B	0.22	£48.77M	£37.80	6.46

Do analysts recommend HAS or STEM?

Hays currently has a consensus price target of GBX 120, indicating a potential upside of 73.66%. SThree has a consensus price target of GBX 345, indicating a potential upside of 41.26%. Given Hays' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Hays is more favorable than SThree.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hays	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
SThree	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is HAS or STEM a better dividend stock?

Hays pays an annual dividend of GBX 3 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. SThree pays an annual dividend of GBX 17 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Hays pays out -962.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SThree pays out 45.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in HAS or STEM?

91.2% of Hays shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.8% of SThree shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Hays shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of SThree shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to HAS or STEM?

In the previous week, SThree had 1 more articles in the media than Hays. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for SThree and 0 mentions for Hays. Hays' average media sentiment score of 0.00 beat SThree's score of -0.68 indicating that Hays is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Hays	Neutral
SThree	Negative

Is HAS or STEM more profitable?

SThree has a net margin of 3.33% compared to Hays' net margin of -0.07%. SThree's return on equity of 20.90% beat Hays' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hays	-0.07%	-0.84%	2.27%
SThree	3.33%	20.90%	10.67%

Which has more risk & volatility, HAS or STEM?

Hays has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SThree has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SThree beats Hays on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.