Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) versus Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) Head-To-Head Comparison

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) and Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Charles River Associates has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Booz Allen Hamilton has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.1% of Charles River Associates shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Charles River Associates shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Charles River Associates and Booz Allen Hamilton”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Charles River Associates	$687.41 million	1.75	$46.65 million	$8.26	22.14
Booz Allen Hamilton	$11.98 billion	0.87	$935.00 million	$6.55	13.05

Booz Allen Hamilton has higher revenue and earnings than Charles River Associates. Booz Allen Hamilton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Charles River Associates, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Charles River Associates pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Booz Allen Hamilton pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Charles River Associates pays out 23.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Booz Allen Hamilton pays out 33.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Charles River Associates has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Booz Allen Hamilton has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Booz Allen Hamilton is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Charles River Associates and Booz Allen Hamilton’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Charles River Associates	7.93%	25.51%	9.12%
Booz Allen Hamilton	7.06%	71.87%	10.79%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Charles River Associates and Booz Allen Hamilton, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Charles River Associates	0	0	2	0	3.00
Booz Allen Hamilton	4	9	2	1	2.00

Charles River Associates presently has a consensus target price of $235.00, suggesting a potential upside of 28.53%. Booz Allen Hamilton has a consensus target price of $117.42, suggesting a potential upside of 37.33%. Given Booz Allen Hamilton’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Booz Allen Hamilton is more favorable than Charles River Associates.

Summary

Booz Allen Hamilton beats Charles River Associates on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Charles River Associates

CRA International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues. The company also offers consulting services, including research and analysis, expert testimony, and support in litigation and regulatory proceedings in the areas of finance, accounting, economics, insurance, and forensic accounting and investigations to corporate clients and attorneys. In addition, it offers management consulting services comprising strategy development, performance improvement, corporate strategy and portfolio analysis, estimation of market demand, environmental, social and corporate governance and sustainability strategy and analysis, design and implementation of auction and bidding, new product pricing strategies, survey and market research, valuation of intellectual property and other assets, assessment of competitors’ actions, and analysis of new sources of supply. The company serves various industries, including communications and media; consumer, health, and wellness products; energy; entertainment and leisure; financial services; healthcare; life sciences; manufacturing and industries; natural resources; retail and distribution; technology; and transportation. CRA International, Inc. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing. The company offers artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer network related operations. In addition, it provides data science, engineering, visualization, and analysis related capabilities. Further, the company engages in user experience, user interface, graphic and web design, design thinking, sketching, and digital product design capabilities. Additionally, it architects and engineers help accelerate, scale, secure, and transform mission and business outcomes using the technologies and partner offering; offers software engineering in agile practices, DevSecOps, automation and Cloud, and Low/No Code Platform engineering; systems and digital engineering; and tech strategy and product management. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.