Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) versus ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) Head-To-Head Contrast

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) and Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for ABM Industries and Acacia Research, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ABM Industries	0	4	0	0	2.00
Acacia Research	1	0	0	0	1.00

ABM Industries presently has a consensus price target of $50.67, indicating a potential upside of 10.11%. Given ABM Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ABM Industries is more favorable than Acacia Research.

Risk and Volatility

ABM Industries has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acacia Research has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.6% of ABM Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Acacia Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of ABM Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Acacia Research shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ABM Industries and Acacia Research”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ABM Industries	$8.75 billion	0.32	$162.30 million	$2.59	17.77
Acacia Research	$122.31 million	3.14	-$36.06 million	$0.05	79.60

ABM Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Acacia Research. ABM Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acacia Research, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares ABM Industries and Acacia Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ABM Industries	1.86%	11.96%	4.10%
Acacia Research	1.70%	2.45%	1.80%

Summary

ABM Industries beats Acacia Research on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ABM Industries

ABM Industries Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of integrated facility, infrastructure, and mobility solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through Business & Industry, Manufacturing & Distribution, Education, Aviation, and Technical Solutions segments. The company offers janitorial, facilities engineering, and parking services for commercial real estate properties, including corporate offices for high tech clients, sports and entertainment venues, and traditional hospitals and non-acute healthcare facilities; provides vehicle maintenance and other services to rental car providers. It also offers integrated facility services, engineering, and other specialized services in various types of manufacturing, distribution, and data center facilities. In addition, the company delivers custodial and landscaping and grounds for public school districts, private schools, colleges, and universities. Further, it supports airlines and airports with services comprising passenger assistance, catering logistics, air cabin maintenance, and transportation services. Additionally, the company provides electric vehicle power design, installation, and maintenance, as well as microgrid systems installations. ABM Industries Incorporated was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Acacia Research

Acacia is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: ACTG) company that is focused on acquiring and operating businesses across the industrial, energy and technology sectors where it believes it can leverage its expertise, significant capital base, and deep industry relationships to drive value. Acacia evaluates opportunities based on the attractiveness of the underlying cash flows, without regard to a specific investment horizon. Acacia operates its businesses based on three key principles of people, process, and performance and has built a management team with demonstrated expertise in research, transactions and execution, and operations and management.