HireQuest, Inc. (HQI) vs Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA)

HireQuest, Inc. and Kelly Services, Inc. are both Staffing & Employment Services companies. Kelly Services, Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $515.3M against $239.2M — 2.2× the size. Kelly Services, Inc. has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; HireQuest, Inc. trades at 29.2×. HireQuest, Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: −7.53% against −7.68%. HireQuest, Inc. has the higher net margin (27.1% vs 0.00%) and the higher return on invested capital (7.97% vs 0.63%). Both pay a dividend; Kelly Services, Inc. yields more (2.16% vs 1.39%). Across the 21 metrics below, HireQuest, Inc. leads on 16 and Kelly Services, Inc. on 5.

Valuation

Metric HQI KELYA Staffing & Employment Services median
P/E 29.22 n/m 23.57
P/S 7.88 0.12 0.28
P/B 3.45 0.49 1.24
Price to free cash flow 26.40 n/m 17.58
EV/EBITDA 19.16 9.46 11.38
EV/Sales 7.84 0.14 0.34
Earnings yield 3.42% (25.96%) 0.15%
Free cash flow yield 3.79% (1.60%) 0.39%

Profitability

Metric HQI KELYA Staffing & Employment Services median
Gross margin 100.00% 19.72% 25.01%
Operating margin 28.44% 0.27% 0.29%
Net margin 27.06% 0.00% 0.04%
Free cash flow margin 31.32% (0.05%) 0.14%
Return on equity 12.10% 0.00% 2.93%
Return on assets 8.69% 0.00% 0.07%
Return on invested capital 7.97% 0.63% 0.32%

Growth

Metric HQI KELYA Staffing & Employment Services median
Revenue growth (TTM) (7.53%) (7.68%) (2.94%)
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 73.08% (36,100.00%) (21.61%)
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 17.28% (1.20%) 1.03%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 3.38% 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric HQI KELYA Staffing & Employment Services median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.13 0.04
Current ratio 2.74 1.55 1.75
Net debt to EBITDA (0.39) 0.81 (0.08)

Dividend

Metric HQI KELYA Staffing & Employment Services median
Dividend yield 1.39% 2.16% 2.47%
Payout ratio 0.42 — 0.50

Size

Metric HQI KELYA Staffing & Employment Services median
Market cap 239.22m 515.34m 461.40m

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