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 $783.8M against $243.3M — 3.2× the size. Barrett Business Services, Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 23.4× against 30.3×. 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 (1.34% vs 0.98%). 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 23.42 30.32 23.42
P/S 0.63 8.18 0.36
P/B 3.89 3.58 1.01
Price to free cash flow 51.05 27.39 16.25
EV/EBITDA 13.43 19.89 9.41
EV/Sales 0.65 8.13 0.40
Earnings yield 4.27% 3.30% 1.15%
Free cash flow yield 1.96% 3.65% 2.73%

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% 0.27%
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% (27.86%)
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 7.08% 17.28% 2.59%
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 0.98% 1.34% 2.46%
Payout ratio 0.24 0.42 0.42

Size

Metric BBSI HQI Staffing & Employment Services median
Market cap 783.76m 243.25m 558.08m

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