Head to Head Analysis: ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) vs. HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI)

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) and ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares HireQuest and ExlService’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HireQuest	27.06%	16.35%	12.11%
ExlService	11.17%	30.61%	15.66%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

12.0% of HireQuest shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of ExlService shares are held by institutional investors. 42.9% of HireQuest shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of ExlService shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

HireQuest has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ExlService has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for HireQuest and ExlService, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HireQuest	0	1	2	0	2.67
ExlService	0	1	6	0	2.86

HireQuest currently has a consensus target price of $19.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.72%. ExlService has a consensus target price of $44.50, suggesting a potential upside of 21.49%. Given ExlService’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ExlService is more favorable than HireQuest.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HireQuest and ExlService”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HireQuest	$30.64 million	7.32	$6.33 million	$0.57	28.32
ExlService	$2.09 billion	2.66	$251.02 million	$1.59	23.04

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

Summary

ExlService beats HireQuest on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HireQuest

HireQuest, Inc. provides temporary staffing services in the United States. It offers staffing services, including direct-dispatch, executive search, consultant, unskilled and semi-skilled industrial and construction personnel, clerical and administrative personnel, and permanent placement services, as well as commercial and non-CDL drivers, and skilled personnel in the medical and dental industries. The company provides its services under the HireQuest Direct, HireQuest, SNelling, DriverQuest, HireQuest Health, Northbound Executive Search, and MRI trade names. It serves construction, recycling, warehousing, logistics, auctioneering, manufacturing, hospitality, landscaping, and retail industries, as well as dental practices. HireQuest, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

About ExlService

ExlService Holdings, Inc. operates as a data analytics, and digital operations and solutions company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Insurance, Healthcare, Analytics, and Emerging Business segments. It also provides digital operations and solutions and analytics-driven services, such as claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business acquisition, policy servicing, premium audit, surveys, billing and collection, commercial and residential survey, and customer service using digital technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced automation; digital customer acquisition services using a software-as-a-service delivery model through LifePRO and LISS platforms; subrogation services; and Subrosource software platform, an end-to-end subrogation platform. In addition, the company offers health care services related to care management, utilization management, disease management, payment integrity, revenue optimization, and customer engagement. Further, it provides financial planning and analysis, management reporting, forecasting and decision support, data management, regulatory reporting and risk, and compliance services; reservations, customer, and fulfilment services; freight billing, collections, claims management, freight audit, freight scheduling, supply chain management, and revenue assurance services; residential mortgage lending, title verification and validation, retail banking and credit cards, trust verification, commercial banking, and investment management; merchandising, pricing, and demand forecasting; and digital operations and solutions. The company offers predictive and prescriptive analytics in the areas of customer acquisition and lifecycle management. ExlService Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.