Financial Review: Wolters Kluwer (OTCMKTS:WTKWY) versus SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP)

Wolters Kluwer (OTCMKTS:WTKWY) and SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Wolters Kluwer and SPAR Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wolters Kluwer	1	0	3	0	2.50
SPAR Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wolters Kluwer and SPAR Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wolters Kluwer	$6.93 billion	2.53	$1.48 billion	N/A	N/A
SPAR Group	$136.10 million	0.09	-$24.63 million	($1.03)	-0.50

Wolters Kluwer has higher revenue and earnings than SPAR Group.

Profitability

This table compares Wolters Kluwer and SPAR Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wolters Kluwer	N/A	N/A	N/A
SPAR Group	-18.09%	-66.43%	-17.93%

Risk and Volatility

Wolters Kluwer has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SPAR Group has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Wolters Kluwer shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.6% of SPAR Group shares are held by institutional investors. 50.9% of SPAR Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Wolters Kluwer beats SPAR Group on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer N.V. provides professional information, software solutions, and services in the Netherlands, rest of Europe, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through Health; Tax & Accounting; Financial & Corporate Compliance; Legal & Regulatory; and Corporate Performance & ESG segments. The Health segment offers clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that drive effective decision-making and improved outcomes across healthcare. It serves hospitals, healthcare organizations, clinicians, students, schools, libraries, payers, life sciences, and pharmacies. The Tax & Accounting segment offers solutions that help tax, accounting, and audit professionals to drive productivity, navigate change, and deliver better outcomes. It serves accounting firms, tax and auditing departments, businesses of all sizes, government agencies, libraries, and universities. The Financial & Corporate Compliance segment offers solutions for legal entity compliance and banking product compliance. It serves corporations, small businesses, law firms, banks, non-bank lenders, credit unions, insurers, and securities firms. The Legal & Regulatory segment provides information, insights, and workflow solutions for changing regulatory obligations, managing risk, and increasing efficiency. It provides solutions for legal and compliance professionals in law firms, corporate legal departments, universities, and government organizations. The Corporate Performance & ESG segment offers enterprise software to drive financial and sustainability performance and manage risks, meet reporting requirements, improve safety and productivity, and reduce environmental impact. It serves corporate finance, audit, planning, risk, environmental, health and safety, operational risk management, and sustainability professionals in corporations, banks, and governments. Wolters Kluwer N.V. was founded in 1836 and is based in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

About SPAR Group

SPAR Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides merchandising and brand marketing services in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The company offers merchandising and marketing services, such as resets and cut-ins; price and inventory audits; stock replenishment and rotation services; out of stock management; promotional event setup; and display management, as well as category management and set up services comprising category and product resets; planogram maintenance; display and shelf services; and point of purchase installation and management. It also provides remodel and retail transformation consisting of store remodels, store department resets, fixture and banner installations, pop-up store services, and store closings; and assembly and installation services, including assembly of merchandise in stores, in-store services, office setup/down-sizing services, and national in-home furniture assembly services. In addition, the company offers business analytics and insights services, such as product dashboards, stock out reporting, visit reporting, real-time service insights, and share of shelf analytics; and fulfillment and distribution services comprising distribution center staffing, point of purchase fulfillment services, kiosk prep, returns processing, picking and packing services, and inventory services. The company serves mass merchandisers; HBAs; pharmacies; and grocery, discount, dollar, convenience, cash and carry, home improvement, consumer electronics, automotive aftermarket, office supply, personal technology, beverage, household products, consumables, financial products, and independent stores. SPAR Group, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan.