Analyzing Stantec (NYSE:STN) and Pagegroup (OTCMKTS:MPGPF)

Stantec (NYSE:STN) and Pagegroup (OTCMKTS:MPGPF) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.9% of Stantec shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Stantec shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Stantec and Pagegroup, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stantec	0	0	7	0	3.00
Pagegroup	0	2	0	1	2.67

Risk & Volatility

Stantec has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pagegroup has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Stantec and Pagegroup”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stantec	$5.47 billion	2.26	$263.82 million	$2.74	39.53
Pagegroup	$2.22 billion	0.56	$36.35 million	N/A	N/A

Stantec has higher revenue and earnings than Pagegroup.

Profitability

This table compares Stantec and Pagegroup’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stantec	5.62%	19.03%	8.04%
Pagegroup	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Stantec beats Pagegroup on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stantec

Stantec Inc. provides professional services in the areas of infrastructure and facilities to the public and private sectors in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It offers evaluation, planning, and designing infrastructure solutions; solutions for sustainable water resources, planning, management, and infrastructure; environmental services; integrated architecture, engineering, interior design, and planning solutions for buildings; and energy and resources solutions. The company also provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. In addition, it offers planning and design services to clients in residential, logistics, retail, infrastructure, energy, higher education, and urban regeneration sectors; architectural and interior design, and planning services in the science and technology, commercial workplace, higher education, residential, and hospitality markets. Further, the company provides transportation advisory, transport engineering, and technical design; project delivery consultancy services for mining, resources, and industrial infrastructure projects; paleontological and archaeological services for the rail, transportation, water, and power and energy sectors; and environmental and cultural resource compliance services. Additionally, it offers consulting services in sustainable building design, energy infrastructure upgrades, sustainable district heating network, and e-mobility; and planning, design, construction administration, commissioning, maintenance, decommissioning, and remediation services. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

About Pagegroup

PageGroup plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides recruitment consultancy and other ancillary services in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and the Americas. It offers executive search services, such as search, selection, and talent management solutions for organizations on a permanent and interim basis under the Page Executive brand; and recruitment services for qualified professional and management level on permanent, temporary, and contract or interim basis under the Michael Page brand. The company also provides recruitment services to organizations requiring permanent employees, temporary, or contract staff at technical and administrative support, professional clerical, and junior management levels under the Page Personnel brand; and flexible recruitment outsourcing services under the Page Outsourcing brand. In addition, it is involved in the provision of IT consultancy services. The company was formerly known as Michael Page International plc and changed its name to PageGroup plc in June 2016. PageGroup plc was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Addlestone, the United Kingdom.