On Assignment (NYSE: ASGN) and Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitabiliy, analyst recommendations and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for On Assignment and Kforce, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| On Assignment | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Kforce | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
On Assignment currently has a consensus target price of $56.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.08%. Kforce has a consensus target price of $24.67, indicating a potential upside of 35.16%. Given Kforce’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Kforce is more favorable than On Assignment.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
91.4% of On Assignment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.1% of Kforce shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of On Assignment shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.3% of Kforce shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares On Assignment and Kforce’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| On Assignment | 4.32% | 16.71% | 8.42% |
| Kforce | 2.64% | 30.25% | 10.13% |
Volatility and Risk
On Assignment has a beta of 2.13, meaning that its stock price is 113% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kforce has a beta of 1.54, meaning that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares On Assignment and Kforce’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| On Assignment | $2.53 billion | 1.02 | $265.32 million | $2.04 | 23.85 |
| Kforce | $1.34 billion | 0.34 | $74.71 million | $1.37 | 13.32 |
On Assignment has higher revenue and earnings than Kforce. Kforce is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than On Assignment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Kforce pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. On Assignment does not pay a dividend. Kforce pays out 35.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Summary
On Assignment beats Kforce on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About On Assignment
On Assignment, Inc. is a global provider of in-demand, skilled professionals in the technology, life sciences and creative sectors. The Company matches resumes with job descriptions to match people they know into positions they understand for temporary, contract-to-hire, and direct hire assignments. It operates through two segments. The Apex segment provides technical, scientific and creative professionals for temporary, contract-to-hire and permanent placement positions and consulting services to clients across the United States. The Apex segment includes Apex Systems, Lab Support and Creative Circle. The Oxford segment provides specialized niche staffing, permanent placement and consulting services in select skill and geographic markets. The Oxford segment includes Oxford Global Resources, CyberCoders and Life Sciences Europe. The Company has a network of branch offices throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
About Kforce
Kforce Inc. (Kforce) is engaged in providing professional and technical specialty staffing services and solutions. The Company operates through three segments, which include Technology (Tech), Finance and Accounting (FA) and Government Solutions (GS). The Company’s Tech segment includes the operations of its subsidiary Kforce Global Solutions, Inc. The FA segment is engaged in providing both temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its clients in areas, such as general accounting, business analysis and others. The GS segment is engaged in providing services and solutions to the Federal Government as both a prime contractor and a subcontractor in the fields of information technology, and finance and accounting. Kforce operates through field offices located throughout the United States and one office in Manila, the Philippines. The Company offers various staffing services that consist of temporary staffing services (Flex) and permanent placement services (Direct Hire).
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