SThree (STEM) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in STEM or HAS?

83.8% of SThree shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.2% of Hays shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of SThree shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Hays shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is STEM or HAS 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
SThree	3.33%	20.90%	10.67%
Hays	-0.07%	-0.84%	2.27%

Which has more risk & volatility, STEM or HAS?

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

Does the media favor STEM or HAS?

In the previous week, SThree had 12 more articles in the media than Hays. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for SThree and 0 mentions for Hays. SThree's average media sentiment score of 0.49 beat Hays' score of 0.00 indicating that SThree is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
SThree	Neutral
Hays	Neutral

Is STEM or HAS a better dividend stock?

SThree pays an annual dividend of GBX 17 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.1%. Hays pays an annual dividend of GBX 3 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. SThree pays out 45.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hays pays out -962.4% 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 analysts recommend STEM or HAS?

SThree currently has a consensus target price of GBX 350, indicating a potential upside of 67.46%. Hays has a consensus target price of GBX 107.50, indicating a potential upside of 73.81%. Given Hays' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hays is more favorable than SThree.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SThree	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Hays	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has better earnings and valuation, STEM or HAS?

SThree has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
SThree	£1.47B	0.19	£48.77M	£37.80	5.53
Hays	£6.91B	0.14	-£4.87M	-£0.31	-198.41

Summary

SThree beats Hays on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.