Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) Competitors

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) and Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, media sentiment and community ranking.

Is CTSH or BAH more profitable?

Cognizant Technology Solutions has a net margin of 11.35% compared to Booz Allen Hamilton's net margin of 7.39%. Booz Allen Hamilton's return on equity of 68.97% beat Cognizant Technology Solutions' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cognizant Technology Solutions	11.35%	16.78%	12.24%
Booz Allen Hamilton	7.39%	68.97%	11.64%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CTSH or BAH?

92.4% of Cognizant Technology Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Cognizant Technology Solutions shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor CTSH or BAH?

In the previous week, Booz Allen Hamilton had 3 more articles in the media than Cognizant Technology Solutions. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Booz Allen Hamilton and 23 mentions for Cognizant Technology Solutions. Cognizant Technology Solutions' average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Booz Allen Hamilton's score of 1.43 indicating that Cognizant Technology Solutions is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cognizant Technology Solutions	16 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Booz Allen Hamilton	22 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CTSH or BAH?

Cognizant Technology Solutions received 673 more outperform votes than Booz Allen Hamilton when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.29% of users gave Cognizant Technology Solutions an outperform vote while only 63.83% of users gave Booz Allen Hamilton an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cognizant Technology Solutions	Outperform Votes 1229 73.29%	Underperform Votes 448 26.71%
Booz Allen Hamilton	Outperform Votes 556 63.83%	Underperform Votes 315 36.17%

Do analysts rate CTSH or BAH?

Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $85.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.26%. Booz Allen Hamilton has a consensus price target of $141.70, suggesting a potential upside of 10.31%. Given Booz Allen Hamilton's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Booz Allen Hamilton is more favorable than Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cognizant Technology Solutions	0 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.22
Booz Allen Hamilton	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36

Is CTSH or BAH a better dividend stock?

Cognizant Technology Solutions pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Booz Allen Hamilton pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Cognizant Technology Solutions pays out 26.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Booz Allen Hamilton pays out 32.8% 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Booz Allen Hamilton has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Booz Allen Hamilton is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better valuation and earnings, CTSH or BAH?

Cognizant Technology Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Booz Allen Hamilton. Cognizant Technology Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Booz Allen Hamilton, 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
Cognizant Technology Solutions	$20.09B	1.96	$2.24B	$4.75	16.84
Booz Allen Hamilton	$11.78B	1.38	$605.71M	$6.71	19.14

Which has more volatility & risk, CTSH or BAH?

Cognizant Technology Solutions has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Booz Allen Hamilton has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cognizant Technology Solutions beats Booz Allen Hamilton on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.