Head to Head Survey: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) vs. ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM)

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) and ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) are both mid-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Bright Horizons Family Solutions and ABM Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bright Horizons Family Solutions	2	4	4	0	2.20
ABM Industries	0	4	1	0	2.20

Bright Horizons Family Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $100.44, suggesting a potential upside of 60.42%. ABM Industries has a consensus target price of $46.25, suggesting a potential upside of 18.23%. Given Bright Horizons Family Solutions’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Bright Horizons Family Solutions is more favorable than ABM Industries.

Volatility & Risk

Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ABM Industries has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.6% of ABM Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of ABM Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bright Horizons Family Solutions and ABM Industries”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bright Horizons Family Solutions	$2.93 billion	1.12	$193.12 million	$3.32	18.86
ABM Industries	$8.75 billion	0.26	$162.30 million	$2.54	15.40

Bright Horizons Family Solutions has higher earnings, but lower revenue than ABM Industries. ABM Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bright Horizons Family Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Bright Horizons Family Solutions and ABM Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bright Horizons Family Solutions	6.35%	18.01%	6.18%
ABM Industries	1.78%	11.77%	3.99%

Summary

Bright Horizons Family Solutions beats ABM Industries on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. provides early education and childcare, back-up care, educational advisory, and other workplace solutions services for employers and families in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and India. The company operates in three segments: Full Service Center-Based Child Care, Back-Up Care, and Educational Advisory and Other Services. The Full Service Center-Based Child Care segment offers traditional center-based child care and early education, preschool, and elementary education services. The Back-Up Care segment provides center-based back-up child care, in-home child and adult/elder dependent care, school-age camps, virtual tutoring, and self-sourced reimbursed care services through child care centers, school-age campuses, and in-home caregivers, as well as the back-up care network. The Educational Advisory and Other Services segment offers tuition assistance and student loan repayment program administration, workforce education, and related educational consulting services, as well as college admissions and college financial advisory services. The company was formerly known as Bright Horizons Solutions Corp. and changed its name to Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. in July 2012. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.

About ABM Industries

ABM Industries Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of integrated facility, infrastructure, and mobility solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through Business & Industry, Manufacturing & Distribution, Education, Aviation, and Technical Solutions segments. The company offers janitorial, facilities engineering, and parking services for commercial real estate properties, including corporate offices for high tech clients, sports and entertainment venues, and traditional hospitals and non-acute healthcare facilities; provides vehicle maintenance and other services to rental car providers. It also offers integrated facility services, engineering, and other specialized services in various types of manufacturing, distribution, and data center facilities. In addition, the company delivers custodial and landscaping and grounds for public school districts, private schools, colleges, and universities. Further, it supports airlines and airports with services comprising passenger assistance, catering logistics, air cabin maintenance, and transportation services. Additionally, the company provides electric vehicle power design, installation, and maintenance, as well as microgrid systems installations. ABM Industries Incorporated was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in New York, New York.