Itex (OTCMKTS:ITEX) vs. Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Critical Contrast

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) and Itex (OTCMKTS:ITEX) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Healthcare Services Group and Itex”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Healthcare Services Group	$1.84 billion	0.90	$59.06 million	$0.96	25.14
Itex	$5.44 million	0.91	$500,000.00	N/A	N/A

Healthcare Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Itex.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Healthcare Services Group and Itex, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Healthcare Services Group	0	4	4	1	2.67
Itex	0	0	0	0	0.00

Healthcare Services Group presently has a consensus price target of $24.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.54%. Given Healthcare Services Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Healthcare Services Group is more favorable than Itex.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.0% of Healthcare Services Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Healthcare Services Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 32.0% of Itex shares are owned 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Healthcare Services Group	3.67%	17.81%	11.06%
Itex	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Healthcare Services Group has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Itex has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Healthcare Services Group beats Itex on 11 of the 13 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 Itex

ITEX Corporation operates a marketplace in which products and services are exchanged by marketplace members without exchanging cash in the United States. The company’s marketplace provides a forum for members to purchase from and sell their products and services to other members using ITEX dollars instead of United States dollars. It also administers the marketplace, as well as provides record-keeping and payment transaction processing services. In addition, the company services its member businesses through its independent licensed brokers and franchise network. ITEX Corporation was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.