Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) and Equifax (NYSE:EFX) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
86.1% of Huron Consulting Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of Equifax shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Huron Consulting Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Equifax shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Huron Consulting Group and Equifax's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Huron Consulting Group | -0.39% | 11.03% | 5.47% |
| Equifax | 7.45% | 27.87% | 9.34% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Huron Consulting Group and Equifax's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Huron Consulting Group | $965.47 million | 1.01 | $41.74 million | $2.74 | 15.60 |
| Equifax | $3.51 billion | 5.85 | $-398,800,000.00 | $5.62 | 30.09 |
Huron Consulting Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Equifax. Huron Consulting Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equifax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Huron Consulting Group has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equifax has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Huron Consulting Group and Equifax, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Huron Consulting Group | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
| Equifax | 1 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 2.33 |
Huron Consulting Group presently has a consensus price target of $68.00, suggesting a potential upside of 59.10%. Equifax has a consensus price target of $156.6667, suggesting a potential downside of 7.35%. Given Huron Consulting Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Huron Consulting Group is more favorable than Equifax.
Summary
Equifax beats Huron Consulting Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
