Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI) vs HireQuest, Inc. (HQI)

Barrett Business Services, Inc. and HireQuest, Inc. are both Staffing & Employment Services companies. Barrett Business Services, Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $736.5M against $239.2M — 3.1× the size. Barrett Business Services, Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 23.6× against 29.2×. Barrett Business Services, Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 4.70% against −7.53%. HireQuest, Inc. has the higher net margin (27.1% vs 2.44%) and the lower return on invested capital (7.97% vs 14.7%). Both pay a dividend; HireQuest, Inc. yields more (1.39% vs 1.06%). Across the 22 metrics below, HireQuest, Inc. leads on 12 and Barrett Business Services, Inc. on 10.

Valuation

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
P/E 23.57 29.22 23.57
P/S 0.57 7.88 0.28
P/B 3.50 3.45 1.24
Price to free cash flow 242.39 26.40 17.58
EV/EBITDA 13.04 19.16 11.38
EV/Sales 0.59 7.84 0.34
Earnings yield 4.24% 3.42% 0.15%
Free cash flow yield 0.41% 3.79% 0.39%

Profitability

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Gross margin 19.43% 100.00% 25.01%
Operating margin 3.80% 28.44% 0.29%
Net margin 2.44% 27.06% 0.04%
Free cash flow margin 0.23% 31.32% 0.14%
Return on equity 13.94% 12.10% 2.93%
Return on assets 4.09% 8.69% 0.07%
Return on invested capital 14.65% 7.97% 0.32%

Growth

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Revenue growth (TTM) 4.70% (7.53%) (2.94%)
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 5.05% 73.08% (21.61%)
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 7.08% 17.28% 1.03%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 10.03% 3.38% 0.00%

Health

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.00 0.04
Current ratio 1.18 2.74 1.75
Net debt to EBITDA (2.23) (0.39) (0.08)

Dividend

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Dividend yield 1.06% 1.39% 2.47%
Payout ratio 0.25 0.42 0.50

Size

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Market cap 736.50m 239.22m 461.40m

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