BrightView (NYSE:BV) & Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) Head to Head Contrast

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) and BrightView (NYSE:BV) 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, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Crawford & Company and BrightView”s gross 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	16.49
BrightView	$2.67 billion	0.40	$56.00 million	($0.02)	-572.75

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Crawford & Company and BrightView, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	1	0	0	0	1.00
BrightView	3	2	2	2	2.33

BrightView has a consensus price target of $14.68, suggesting a potential upside of 28.18%. Given BrightView’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BrightView is more favorable than Crawford & Company.

Risk and Volatility

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BrightView has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

11.0% of Crawford & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of BrightView shares are held by institutional investors. 51.0% of Crawford & Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of BrightView shares are held by company 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.

Profitability

This table compares Crawford & Company and BrightView’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%
BrightView	1.90%	7.85%	2.98%

Summary

BrightView beats Crawford & Company on 10 of the 15 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 BrightView

BrightView Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Maintenance Services and Development Services. The Maintenance Services segment delivers a suite of recurring commercial landscaping services, including mowing, gardening, mulching and snow removal, water management, irrigation maintenance, tree care, golf course maintenance, and specialty turf maintenance. Its customers' properties include corporate and commercial properties, homeowners associations, public parks, hotels and resorts, airport authorities, municipalities, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, educational institutions, restaurants and retail, and golf courses. This segment's customer base includes approximately 8,800 office parks and corporate campuses 7,100 residential communities, and 550 educational institutions. The Development Services segment offers landscape architecture and development services for new facilities and redesign projects. Its services include project design and management services, landscape architecture and installation, irrigation installation, tree moving and installation, pool and water features, sports field, and other services. BrightView Holdings, Inc. also operates as official field consultant to various league baseball. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.