Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY – Get Free Report) and Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Paylocity and Charles River Associates’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Paylocity | 15.23% | 27.02% | 5.78% |
| Charles River Associates | 6.20% | 27.31% | 8.36% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
94.8% of Paylocity shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.1% of Charles River Associates shares are held by institutional investors. 19.4% of Paylocity shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Charles River Associates shares are held by company 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 Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Paylocity | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 2.71 |
| Charles River Associates | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
Paylocity presently has a consensus price target of $163.76, suggesting a potential upside of 3.58%. Charles River Associates has a consensus price target of $245.00, suggesting a potential upside of 36.88%. Given Charles River Associates’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Charles River Associates is more favorable than Paylocity.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Paylocity and Charles River Associates”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Paylocity | $1.77 billion | 4.74 | $269.74 million | $4.95 | 31.94 |
| Charles River Associates | $751.58 million | 1.50 | $54.78 million | $7.51 | 23.83 |
Paylocity has higher revenue and earnings than Charles River Associates. Charles River Associates is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paylocity, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Paylocity has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charles River Associates has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Paylocity beats Charles River Associates on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Paylocity
Paylocity Holding Corporation engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers payroll software solution for global payroll, expense management, tax services, on demand payment, and garnishment managed services; and time and labor management software for time and attendance, scheduling, and time collection. It also provides human resources (HR) software solutions for employee self-service, compliance, HR edge, data analytics, and workflows and documents, as well as human resource management system; talent management system for recruiting, onboarding, performance, compensation, and learning; and benefits administration software. In addition, the company offers employee experience platform for community, employee voice, recognition and rewards, video, and modern workforce index; HR reporting software; and mobile HR solutions. Further, it provides implementation and training, client, and tax and regulatory services. The company serves for-profit and non-profit organizations across industries, including business services, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, restaurants, retail, technology, and others. It sells its products through sales representatives. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois.
About Charles River Associates
CRA International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues. The company also offers consulting services, including research and analysis, expert testimony, and support in litigation and regulatory proceedings in the areas of finance, accounting, economics, insurance, and forensic accounting and investigations to corporate clients and attorneys. In addition, it offers management consulting services comprising strategy development, performance improvement, corporate strategy and portfolio analysis, estimation of market demand, environmental, social and corporate governance and sustainability strategy and analysis, design and implementation of auction and bidding, new product pricing strategies, survey and market research, valuation of intellectual property and other assets, assessment of competitors’ actions, and analysis of new sources of supply. The company serves various industries, including communications and media; consumer, health, and wellness products; energy; entertainment and leisure; financial services; healthcare; life sciences; manufacturing and industries; natural resources; retail and distribution; technology; and transportation. CRA International, Inc. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
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