Reviewing SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) & Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYB)

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYB) and SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.2% of Kelly Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.9% of SS&C Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 93.1% of Kelly Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.0% of SS&C Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Kelly Services has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SS&C Technologies has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Kelly Services and SS&C Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kelly Services	-6.73%	2.69%	1.19%
SS&C Technologies	12.76%	21.74%	7.25%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Kelly Services and SS&C Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kelly Services	$4.25 billion	0.21	-$254.10 million	($7.81)	-3.34
SS&C Technologies	$6.27 billion	2.91	$796.90 million	$3.48	22.33

SS&C Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Kelly Services. Kelly Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SS&C Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Kelly Services pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. SS&C Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Kelly Services pays out -3.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SS&C Technologies pays out 34.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. SS&C Technologies has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years. SS&C Technologies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Kelly Services and SS&C Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kelly Services	0	1	0	0	2.00
SS&C Technologies	1	2	8	1	2.75

SS&C Technologies has a consensus price target of $96.57, indicating a potential upside of 24.27%. Given SS&C Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SS&C Technologies is more favorable than Kelly Services.

Summary

SS&C Technologies beats Kelly Services on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc. engages in staffing and workforce solutions. It operates through the following segments: Americas Staffing, Global Talent Solutions, and International Staffing. The Americas Staffing segment delivers temporary staffing, as well as direct-hire placement services, in a number of specialty staffing services, including office, education, marketing, electronic assembly, light industrial, science, engineering, and information technology in United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The Global Talent Solutions segment offers outsourcing, consulting, and centrally delivered staffing business. The International Staffing segment relates to branch-delivered staffing business in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, as well as in the Asia Pacific. The company was founded by William Russell Kelly on October 7, 1946 and is headquartered in Troy, MI.

About SS&C Technologies

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. engages in the development and provision of software solutions to the financial services and healthcare industries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Japan, Canada, and the Americas, excluding the United States and Canada. Its products include advent genesis, antares, asset allocators, AWD, axys, BANC mall, BRIX, DST vision, evare, lightning, and moxy. The company was founded by William Charles Stone in March 1986 and is headquartered in Windsor, CT.