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 $765.8M against $260.6M — 2.9× the size. Barrett Business Services, Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 22.4× against 34.0×. Barrett Business Services, Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 5.59% against −7.53%. HireQuest, Inc. has the higher net margin (27.1% vs 2.77%) and the lower return on invested capital (7.97% vs 24.0%). Both pay a dividend; HireQuest, Inc. yields more (1.87% vs 1.07%). Across the 22 metrics below, Barrett Business Services, Inc. leads on 11 and HireQuest, Inc. on 11.

Valuation

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
P/E 22.40 33.97 24.32
P/S 0.60 9.16 0.41
P/B 3.72 4.01 1.28
Price to free cash flow 48.84 30.69 18.57
EV/EBITDA 12.87 23.50 10.55
EV/Sales 0.62 9.61 0.40
Earnings yield 4.46% 2.94% 0.99%
Free cash flow yield 2.05% 3.26% 2.79%

Profitability

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Gross margin 19.98% 100.00% 23.11%
Operating margin 4.13% 28.44% 0.08%
Net margin 2.77% 27.06% 0.23%
Free cash flow margin 1.23% 31.32% 1.23%
Return on equity 16.33% 12.10% 2.31%
Return on assets 4.92% 8.69% 0.00%
Return on invested capital 24.03% 7.97% 0.00%

Growth

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Revenue growth (TTM) 5.59% (7.53%) 0.69%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 5.05% 73.08% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 7.08% 17.28% 1.23%
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 0.08
Current ratio 1.14 2.74 1.50
Net debt to EBITDA (2.23) (0.39) (0.22)

Dividend

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Dividend yield 1.07% 1.87% 2.16%
Payout ratio 0.18 0.30 0.30

Size

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Market cap 765.83m 260.62m 590.17m

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