Comparing Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) and Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG)

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) and Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Healthcare Services Group has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aqua Metals has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Healthcare Services Group and Aqua Metals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Healthcare Services Group	$1.84 billion	0.79	$59.06 million	$1.72	12.27
Aqua Metals	$30,000.00	175.63	-$22.65 million	($4.72)	-0.31

Healthcare Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Aqua Metals. Aqua Metals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Healthcare Services Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Healthcare Services Group and Aqua Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Healthcare Services Group	6.59%	18.97%	11.96%
Aqua Metals	N/A	-145.58%	-106.72%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.0% of Healthcare Services Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.0% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Healthcare Services Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Healthcare Services Group and Aqua Metals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Healthcare Services Group	0	4	6	0	2.60
Aqua Metals	1	0	1	0	2.00

Healthcare Services Group currently has a consensus target price of $26.67, indicating a potential upside of 26.32%. Aqua Metals has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 237.84%. Given Aqua Metals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than Healthcare Services Group.

Summary

Healthcare Services Group beats Aqua Metals on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary. The Housekeeping segment engages in the cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing of resident rooms and common areas of the customers' facilities, as well as laundering and processing of the bed linens, uniforms, resident personal clothing, and other assorted linen items utilized at the customers' facilities. The Dietary segment provides food purchasing, meal preparation, and professional dietitian services, which include the development of menus that meet the dietary needs of residents; and on-site management and clinical consulting services to facilities. It serves long-term and post-acute care facilities, hospitals, and the healthcare industry through referrals and solicitation of target facilities. The company was incorporated in 1976 and is based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. engages in reinventing metals recycling activities with its patented AquaRefining technology. The company's technology produces metals and alloys that can be returned into the battery manufacturing supply chain markets, as well as sells metals for use in various advanced manufacturing industries. Its AquaRefining, a low-emissions and recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries. Aqua Metals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.