Critical Contrast: Robert Half (RHI) vs. Its Peers

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) is one of 204 publicly-traded companies in the “Professional Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Robert Half to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Robert Half and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Robert Half	$5.30 billion	$132.99 million	34.75
Robert Half Competitors	$3.29 billion	$228.40 million	32.41

Robert Half has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its rivals. Robert Half is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.4% of Robert Half shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.4% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Robert Half shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Robert Half and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Robert Half	3	4	3	0	2.00
Robert Half Competitors	1620	6511	9186	435	2.48

Robert Half currently has a consensus target price of $40.75, suggesting a potential downside of 3.10%. As a group, “Professional Services” companies have a potential upside of 26.93%. Given Robert Half’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Robert Half has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Robert Half and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Robert Half	2.30%	9.89%	4.32%
Robert Half Competitors	0.35%	36.04%	4.43%

Risk & Volatility

Robert Half has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Robert Half’s rivals have a beta of 0.96, indicating that their average share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Robert Half pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Robert Half pays out 195.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Professional Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.4% and pay out -166.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Robert Half has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Summary

Robert Half rivals beat Robert Half on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Robert Half Company Profile

Robert Half, Inc. is a global talent solutions company that provides staffing and recruitment services to businesses and job seekers. It places professionals in temporary, project-based and permanent roles, with expertise in fields including finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative support. The company also provides business and technology consulting through Protiviti, its consulting subsidiary. Protiviti advises organizations on areas such as risk management, internal audit, compliance, cybersecurity, technology and business performance.