Reviewing Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) & Geo Group (NYSE:GEO)

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) and Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.4% of Vestis shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of Geo Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.7% of Vestis shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Geo Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Vestis has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Geo Group has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Vestis and Geo Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vestis	4	3	1	0	1.62
Geo Group	0	1	4	1	3.00

Vestis presently has a consensus price target of $12.66, indicating a potential downside of 8.96%. Geo Group has a consensus price target of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 39.65%. Given Geo Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Geo Group is more favorable than Vestis.

Profitability

This table compares Vestis and Geo Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vestis	-0.20%	7.27%	2.20%
Geo Group	10.31%	10.42%	4.14%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vestis and Geo Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vestis	$2.70 billion	0.68	-$40.22 million	($0.05)	-278.12
Geo Group	$2.63 billion	1.43	$254.37 million	$2.12	13.51

Geo Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Vestis. Vestis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Geo Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Geo Group beats Vestis on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vestis

Vestis Corporation provides uniform rentals and workplace supplies in the United States and Canada. Its products include uniform options, such as shirts, pants, outerwear, gowns, scrubs, high visibility garments, particulate-free garments, and flame-resistant garments, as well as shoes and accessories; and workplace supplies, including managed restroom supply services, first-aid supplies and safety products, floor mats, towels, and linens. The company serves manufacturing, hospitality, retail, food processing, food service, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, automotive, and cleanroom industries. Vestis Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Roswell, Georgia.

About Geo Group

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE: GEO) engages in ownership, leasing, and management of secure facilities, processing centers, and community-based reentry facilities in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The company also provides secure facility management services, including the provision of security, administrative, rehabilitation, education, and food services; reentry services, such as temporary housing, programming, employment assistance, and other services; electronic monitoring and supervision services; and transportation services; as well as designs, constructs, and finances new facilities through projects. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Boca Raton, Florida.