Head-To-Head Analysis: Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) and Science Applications International (NASDAQ:SAIC)

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) and Science Applications International (NASDAQ:SAIC) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Huron Consulting Group and Science Applications International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Huron Consulting Group	$1.70 billion	1.64	$105.04 million	$6.68	26.27
Science Applications International	$7.26 billion	0.77	$358.00 million	$8.55	15.59

Science Applications International has higher revenue and earnings than Huron Consulting Group. Science Applications International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Huron Consulting Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Huron Consulting Group and Science Applications International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Huron Consulting Group	6.38%	32.33%	9.29%
Science Applications International	5.13%	34.68%	9.45%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Huron Consulting Group and Science Applications International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Huron Consulting Group	0	1	5	0	2.83
Science Applications International	1	8	2	0	2.09

Huron Consulting Group currently has a consensus price target of $184.25, indicating a potential upside of 5.00%. Science Applications International has a consensus price target of $125.22, indicating a potential downside of 6.07%. Given Huron Consulting Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Huron Consulting Group is more favorable than Science Applications International.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Huron Consulting Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.0% of Science Applications International shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Huron Consulting Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Science Applications International 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.

Volatility and Risk

Huron Consulting Group has a beta of 0.09, indicating that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Science Applications International has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Huron Consulting Group beats Science Applications International on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Huron Consulting Group

Huron Consulting Group Inc., a professional services firm, provides consultancy services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The Healthcare segment provides financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital offerings, spanning technology and analytic-related services; software products; organizational transformation services; revenue cycle managed and outsourcing services; financial and capital advisory consulting services; and strategy and innovation consulting services to national and regional health systems, academic and community health systems, federal health system, public, children’s and critical access hospitals, physician practices and medical groups, payors, and long-term care or post-acute providers. The Education segment provides digital solutions, spanning technology, and analytic-related services; Huron Research product suite, a software suite designed to facilitate and enhance research administration service delivery and compliance; research-focused consulting and managed services; strategy and operations consulting services for public and private colleges and universities, research institutes, and other education-related organizations. The Commercial segment delivers digital services and software products, and financial advisory services to financial, energy and utilities, professional and business services, life science, consumer products, and industrials and manufacturing industries, as well as public sector and nonprofit organizations. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Science Applications International

Science Applications International Corporation provides technical, engineering, and enterprise information technology (IT) services primarily in the United States. The company’s offerings include engineering; technology integration; IT modernization; maintenance of ground and maritime systems; logistics; training and simulation; operation and program support services; and end-to-end services, such as design, development, integration, deployment, management and operations, sustainment, and security of its customers’ IT infrastructure, as well as cloud migration, managed services, infrastructure modernization, and enterprise IT-as-a-service solutions. It serves the U.S. military comprising Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard; Department of Defense agencies; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the U.S. Department of State; Department of Justice; Department of Homeland Security; and various intelligence community agencies, as well as U.S. federal civilian agencies. The company was formerly known as SAIC Gemini, Inc. and changed its name to Science Applications International Corporation in September 2013. Science Applications International Corporation was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.