Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) & Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Head-To-Head Review

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) and Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Crawford & Company and Willdan Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.31 billion	0.36	$19.63 million	$0.59	16.24
Willdan Group	$681.55 million	1.72	$52.56 million	$3.48	22.84

Willdan Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Crawford & Company. Crawford & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Willdan Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Crawford & Company and Willdan Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	1	0	0	0	1.00
Willdan Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Willdan Group has a consensus price target of $124.33, suggesting a potential upside of 56.41%. Given Willdan Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Willdan Group is more favorable than Crawford & Company.

Risk & Volatility

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Willdan Group has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Crawford & Company and Willdan Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	1.50%	26.21%	5.74%
Willdan Group	7.71%	23.34%	12.78%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.0% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.3% of Willdan Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.0% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Willdan Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Willdan Group beats Crawford & Company on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crawford & Company

Crawford & Co. engages in the provision of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers, and corporates. It operates through the following segments: Crawford Loss Adjusting, Crawford TPA Solutions, and Crawford Platform Solutions. The Crawford Loss Adjusting segment consists of adjusting services provided to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property and casualty losses caused by physical damage to commercial and residential real property and certain types of personal property. The Crawford TPA Solutions segment provides third party administration for workers’ compensation, auto and liability, disability absence management, medical management, and accident and health to corporations, brokers, and insurers worldwide. The Crawford Platform Solutions segment is involved in the management of contractor networks and the provision of claims management services to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property, casualty, and catastrophic losses. The company was founded by Jim Crawford in 1941 and is headquartered in Peachtree Corners, GA.

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services. The Engineering and Consulting segment provides building and safety, city engineering and code enforcement, development plan review and inspection, disaster recovery, geotechnical and earthquake engineering, planning and surveying, contract staff support, program and construction management, structural engineering, transportation and traffic engineering, and water resources services. This segment also offers district administration, financial consulting, and federal compliance services. It serves public and governmental agencies, including cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, water districts, school districts, and universities; investor and municipal owned energy utilities; state and federal agencies; and commercial and industrial firms, as well as various other special districts and agencies. The company was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California.