Contrasting Atlantic International (NASDAQ:CIRC) and Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS)

Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) and Atlantic International (NASDAQ:CIRC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

47.6% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 63.8% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of Atlantic International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Consumer Portfolio Services and Atlantic International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consumer Portfolio Services	0	1	0	0	2.00
Atlantic International	1	0	0	1	2.50

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Consumer Portfolio Services and Atlantic International”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Consumer Portfolio Services	$434.47 million	0.46	$19.33 million	$0.92	9.82
Atlantic International	$435.88 million	0.09	-$59.43 million	($2.11)	-0.16

Consumer Portfolio Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Atlantic International. Atlantic International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Consumer Portfolio Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Consumer Portfolio Services has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlantic International has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Consumer Portfolio Services and Atlantic International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consumer Portfolio Services	4.78%	6.91%	0.54%
Atlantic International	-19.39%	N/A	-28.58%

Summary

Consumer Portfolio Services beats Atlantic International on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Consumer Portfolio Services

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It is involved in the purchase and service of retail automobile contracts originated by franchised automobile dealers and select independent dealers in the sale of new and used automobiles, light trucks, and passenger vans. The company, through its automobile contract purchases, offers indirect financing to the customers of dealers with limited credit histories or past credit problems. It also serves as an alternative source of financing for dealers, facilitating sales to customers who are not able to obtain financing from commercial banks, credit unions, and the captive finance companies. In addition, the company acquires installment purchase contracts in merger and acquisition transactions; purchases immaterial amounts of vehicle purchase money loans from non-affiliated lenders. It services its automobile contracts through its branches in California, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Atlantic International

Atlantic International Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates as a staffing company servicing the commercial, professional, finance, direct placement, and managed service provider verticals. The company specializes in permanent, temporary, and temporary-to-permanent placement services in various areas, including accounting and finance, administrative and clerical, hospitality, information technology, legal, light industrial, and medical fields. It also provides productivity consulting and workforce management solutions. Atlantic International Corp. was founded in 2018 and is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.