Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) Competitors

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) and Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Does the media prefer UNF or HCSG?

In the previous week, UniFirst had 4 more articles in the media than Healthcare Services Group. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for UniFirst and 3 mentions for Healthcare Services Group. Healthcare Services Group's average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat UniFirst's score of 1.04 indicating that Healthcare Services Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
UniFirst	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Healthcare Services Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of UNF or HCSG?

78.2% of UniFirst shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of Healthcare Services Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of UniFirst shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Healthcare Services Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is UNF or HCSG a better dividend stock?

UniFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Healthcare Services Group pays an annual dividend of $0.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. UniFirst pays out 17.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Healthcare Services Group pays out 153.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UniFirst has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Is UNF or HCSG more profitable?

UniFirst has a net margin of 6.00% compared to Healthcare Services Group's net margin of 2.30%. Healthcare Services Group's return on equity of 11.76% beat UniFirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UniFirst	6.00%	7.40%	5.80%
Healthcare Services Group	2.30%	11.76%	7.08%

Which has more volatility & risk, UNF or HCSG?

UniFirst has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Healthcare Services Group has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend UNF or HCSG?

UniFirst currently has a consensus price target of $180.00, suggesting a potential downside of 4.40%. Healthcare Services Group has a consensus price target of $14.80, suggesting a potential upside of 0.14%. Given Healthcare Services Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Healthcare Services Group is more favorable than UniFirst.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UniFirst	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50
Healthcare Services Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, UNF or HCSG?

UniFirst has higher revenue and earnings than Healthcare Services Group. UniFirst is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Healthcare Services Group, 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
UniFirst	$2.45B	1.43	$145.47M	$8.04	23.42
Healthcare Services Group	$1.74B	0.62	$39.47M	$0.56	26.39

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in UNF or HCSG?

Healthcare Services Group received 69 more outperform votes than UniFirst when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 55.94% of users gave Healthcare Services Group an outperform vote while only 52.55% of users gave UniFirst an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
UniFirst	Outperform Votes 237 52.55%	Underperform Votes 214 47.45%
Healthcare Services Group	Outperform Votes 306 55.94%	Underperform Votes 241 44.06%

Summary

Healthcare Services Group beats UniFirst on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.