Comparing Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) & Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYB)

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYB) and Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Kelly Services and Clarivate”s gross 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	0.19	-$254.10 million	($7.60)	-3.03
Clarivate	$2.46 billion	0.52	-$201.10 million	($0.52)	-3.86

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.2% of Kelly Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.7% of Clarivate shares are owned by institutional investors. 93.1% of Kelly Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.9% of Clarivate shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Kelly Services and Clarivate, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kelly Services	1	0	0	0	1.00
Clarivate	3	4	1	0	1.75

Clarivate has a consensus price target of $3.02, suggesting a potential upside of 50.46%. Given Clarivate’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Clarivate is more favorable than Kelly Services.

Volatility & Risk

Kelly Services has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clarivate has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Kelly Services and Clarivate’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kelly Services	-6.44%	3.07%	1.41%
Clarivate	-13.84%	9.15%	3.99%

Summary

Clarivate beats Kelly Services on 10 of the 14 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 Clarivate

Clarivate Plc operates as an information services provider in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through three segments: Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare, and Intellectual Property. The company offers Web of Science and InCites, that analyzes and explores the academic research landscape and manages research information; ProQuest One and Ebook Central that provides comprehensive content collections to institutions in a cost-effective manner; and Alma and Polaris, that manages academic resources and services, connect users, and support research publications. It also provides Patent and Trademark Renewals, that supports paralegal and admin tasks throughout the patent and trademark protection and maintenance process; CompuMark and Derwent, that supports critical decisions around patent and trademark protection, risk, and value creation throughout the innovation and brand lifecycle; IPFolio and Foundation IP that creates a structured environment for the protection and management of global patent and trademark assets. In addition, the company offers Cortellis Competitive Intelligence and Cortellis Drug Discovery Intelligence, that supports the development of new drugs and medical devices from discovery to clinical trials; Cortellis Regulatory Intelligence and OFF-X to monitor drug safety issues and adhere to regulatory protocols; Real World Data and Optimize that inform commercial launch strategy and set pricing for optimal reimbursement. It serves corporations, universities, law firms, government agencies, public libraries, and other professional services organizations. The company was formerly known as Clarivate Analytics Plc and changed its name to Clarivate Plc in May 2020. Clarivate Plc was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.