Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) Competitors

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) and Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) are both diversified support services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Do analysts recommend UNF or HCSG?

Unifirst currently has a consensus price target of $181.67, indicating a potential downside of 3.39%. Healthcare Services Group has a consensus price target of $14.80, indicating a potential downside of 1.53%. 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	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.67
Healthcare Services Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has more risk and volatility, UNF or HCSG?

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

Do insiders and institutionals believe in UNF or HCSG?

78.2% of Unifirst shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of Healthcare Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Unifirst shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Healthcare Services Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, 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	$2.43B	1.44	$145.47M	$8.04	23.39
Healthcare Services Group	$1.72B	0.64	$39.47M	$0.56	26.84

Is UNF or HCSG more profitable?

Unifirst has a net margin of 6.13% compared to Healthcare Services Group's net margin of 2.38%. Healthcare Services Group's return on equity of 11.68% beat Unifirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unifirst	6.13%	7.46%	5.86%
Healthcare Services Group	2.38%	11.68%	7.14%

Does the media prefer UNF or HCSG?

In the previous week, Unifirst had 6 more articles in the media than Healthcare Services Group. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Unifirst and 3 mentions for Healthcare Services Group. Healthcare Services Group's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat Unifirst's score of 0.06 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Healthcare Services Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Healthcare Services Group beats Unifirst on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.