Head-To-Head Contrast: Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) & FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN)

FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN) and Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

FTI Consulting has a beta of -0.06, meaning that its stock price is 106% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barrett Business Services has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares FTI Consulting and Barrett Business Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FTI Consulting	6.44%	15.91%	7.35%
Barrett Business Services	2.77%	20.95%	6.11%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FTI Consulting and Barrett Business Services”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FTI Consulting	$3.79 billion	1.13	$270.87 million	$8.27	18.81
Barrett Business Services	$1.24 billion	0.65	$54.45 million	$1.36	24.37

FTI Consulting has higher revenue and earnings than Barrett Business Services. FTI Consulting is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barrett Business Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.4% of FTI Consulting shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.8% of Barrett Business Services shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of FTI Consulting shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Barrett Business Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for FTI Consulting and Barrett Business Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FTI Consulting	1	1	0	0	1.50
Barrett Business Services	0	3	2	1	2.67

FTI Consulting presently has a consensus target price of $163.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.13%. Barrett Business Services has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.72%. Given Barrett Business Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Barrett Business Services is more favorable than FTI Consulting.

Summary

Barrett Business Services beats FTI Consulting on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting, Inc. provides business advisory services to manage change, mitigate risk, and resolve disputes worldwide. The company operates through Corporate Finance & Restructuring, Forensic and Litigation Consulting, Economic Consulting, Technology, and Strategic Communications segments. The Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment provides business transformation and strategy, transactions, and turnaround and restructuring services. The Forensic and Litigation Consulting segment offers construction and environmental solutions, data and analytics, disputes, health solutions, and risk and investigation services. The Economic Consulting segment provides antitrust and competition economics, financial economics, and international arbitration services. The Technology segment offers corporate legal department consulting; e-discovery and expertise; and information governance, privacy, and security services. The Strategic Communications segment provides corporate reputation, financial communications, and public affairs services. It serves aerospace and defense, airlines and aviation, blockchain and digital assets, chemicals, construction and environmental solutions, energy, financial services, food and agriculture, healthcare and life sciences, hospitality, gaming and leisure, automotive and industrial, insurance, mining, private equity, power and renewable, public sector and government contracts, real estate, retail and consumer products, telecom, media and technology, and transportation and logistics sectors. FTI Consulting, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.

About Barrett Business Services

Barrett Business Services, Inc. provides business management solutions for small and mid-sized companies in the United States. The company develops a management platform that integrates a knowledge-based approach from the management consulting industry with tools from the human resource outsourcing industry. It offers professional employer services under which it enters into a client services agreement to establish a co-employment relationship with each client company, assuming responsibility for payroll, payroll taxes, workers compensation coverage, and other administration functions for the client’s existing workforce. The company provides staffing and recruiting services, such as on-demand or short-term staffing assignment, contract staffing, direct placement, and long-term or indefinite-term on-site management services. It serves electronics manufacturers, light-manufacturing industries, agriculture-based companies, transportation and shipping enterprises, food processors, telecommunications companies, public utilities, general contractors in various construction-related fields, restaurant franchises, and professional services firms. Barrett Business Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.