Critical Contrast: Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification (OTCMKTS:BVRDF) and Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification (OTCMKTS:BVRDF) and Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.4% of Exponent shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Exponent shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification and Exponent, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification	0	1	0	1	3.00
Exponent	0	0	1	0	3.00

Exponent has a consensus price target of $120.00, suggesting a potential upside of 58.98%. Given Exponent’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Exponent is more favorable than Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification.

Volatility & Risk

Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exponent has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification and Exponent”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification	$6.75 billion	2.30	$616.15 million	N/A	N/A
Exponent	$558.51 million	6.86	$109.00 million	$2.05	36.82

Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification has higher revenue and earnings than Exponent.

Profitability

This table compares Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification and Exponent’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification	N/A	N/A	N/A
Exponent	18.87%	25.33%	14.10%

Summary

Exponent beats Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bureau Veritas Registre International De Classification

Bureau Veritas SA provides laboratory testing, inspection, and certification services. It operates through six segments: Marine & Offshore; Agri-Food & Commodities; Buildings & Infrastructure; Industry; Certification; and Consumer Products. The company engages in inspecting, analyzing, auditing, and certifying the products, assets, and management systems of its clients in relation to regulatory or self-imposed standards, as well as issues compliance reports. It also provides laboratory and on-site testing services for manufacturing and process industries; inspection services for products, services, assets, and installations, as well as various services designed to control quality, verify quantity, and meet regulatory requirements; and certification services for management systems, products, and people. The company serves automotive and transportation, building and infrastructure, chemicals, commodities and agriculture, consumer products and retail, food, marine and offshore, oil and gas, and power and utilities industries, as well as financial services and public sectors. It operates in approximately 140 countries through a network of offices and laboratories. Bureau Veritas SA was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering. The Environmental and Health segment offers services in the areas of chemical regulation and food safety, ecological and biological sciences, environmental and earth sciences, and health sciences. The company offers approximately 90 technical disciplines to solve pressing and complicated challenges facing stakeholders. It serves clients in chemical, construction, consumer products, energy, food, beverage and nutrition, government, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, technology, industrial equipment, transportation, and other sectors of the economy. The company was formerly known as The Failure Group, Inc. and changed its name to Exponent, Inc. in 1998. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.