Contrasting ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) and Maximus (NYSE:MMS)

ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) and Maximus (NYSE:MMS) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Dividends

ICF International pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Maximus pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. ICF International pays out 9.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Maximus pays out 23.9% 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. Maximus has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Maximus is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for ICF International and Maximus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICF International	0	2	3	0	2.60
Maximus	0	0	1	0	3.00

ICF International presently has a consensus target price of $127.20, suggesting a potential upside of 43.07%. Maximus has a consensus target price of $90.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.16%. Given ICF International’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe ICF International is more favorable than Maximus.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ICF International and Maximus”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICF International	$2.02 billion	0.81	$110.17 million	$5.83	15.25
Maximus	$5.31 billion	0.76	$306.91 million	$5.03	14.30

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.1% of ICF International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of Maximus shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of ICF International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Maximus shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares ICF International and Maximus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICF International	5.45%	14.84%	7.02%
Maximus	5.56%	23.37%	9.95%

Volatility and Risk

ICF International has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Maximus has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Maximus beats ICF International on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ICF International

ICF International, Inc. provides management, technology, and policy consulting and implementation services to government and commercial clients in the United States and internationally. The company researches critical policy, industry, stakeholder issues, trends, and behaviors; measures and evaluates results and their impact; and provides strategic planning and advisory services to its clients on how to navigate societal, business, market, business, communication, and technology challenges. It also identifies, defines, and implements policies, plans, programs, and business tools through a range of standard and customized methodologies for its clients' business context; conducts survey research; collects and analyzes various data to understand critical issues and options for its clients; and provides actionable business intelligence, as well as information and data management solutions that allow integrated and purpose-driven data usage. In addition, the company provides solutions to optimize the customer and citizen experience; modernizes IT systems; and cyber security solutions that support the range of cyber security missions and protect IT infrastructures in the face of relentless threats, as well as designs, develops, and implements technology systems and business tools that are key to its clients' mission or business performance. Further, it informs and engages its clients' constituents, customers, and employees through public relations, branding and marketing, multichannel and strategic communications, and reputation issues management. The company serves energy, environment, infrastructure, and disaster recovery; health and social programs; and security and other civilian and commercial markets. The company was formerly known as ICF Consulting Group Holdings, LLC and changed its name to ICF International, Inc. in 2006. ICF International, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About Maximus

Maximus, Inc. operates as a provider of government services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Federal Services, U.S. Services, and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers program eligibility support and enrollment; centralized multilingual customer contact centers, multichannel, and digital self-service options for enrollment; application assistance and independent health plan choice counseling; beneficiary outreach, education, eligibility, enrollment, and redeterminations; and person-centered independent disability, long-term sick, and other health assessments. This segment also provides employment services, such as eligibility support, case management, job-readiness preparation, job search and employer outreach, job retention and career advancement, and educational and training services; technology solutions; system implementation project management services; and specialized consulting services. The U.S. Federal Services segment offers Business process services, eligibility and enrollment, outreach, and other services for federal health and human services programs; clinical services; and technology solutions, including application development and modernization services, enterprise business solutions, advanced analytics and emerging technologies, cybersecurity services, and infrastructure and engineering solutions. The Outside the U.S. segment offers BPS solutions for international governments, including health and disability assessments, program administration for employment services, wellbeing solutions, and other job seeker-related services. Maximus, Inc. was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.