Head-To-Head Comparison: Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) vs. Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL)

Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL) and Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Skillsoft and Charles River Associates”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Skillsoft	$512.67 million	0.09	-$139.82 million	($18.53)	-0.29
Charles River Associates	$751.58 million	1.67	$54.78 million	$7.51	26.65

Charles River Associates has higher revenue and earnings than Skillsoft. Skillsoft 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Skillsoft and Charles River Associates, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Skillsoft	1	2	0	0	1.67
Charles River Associates	0	1	1	0	2.50

Charles River Associates has a consensus price target of $245.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.41%. Given Charles River Associates’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Charles River Associates is more favorable than Skillsoft.

Risk & Volatility

Skillsoft has a beta of 2.41, suggesting that its stock price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charles River Associates has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.0% of Skillsoft shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.1% of Charles River Associates shares are held by institutional investors. 16.2% of Skillsoft shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Charles River Associates shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Skillsoft and Charles River Associates’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Skillsoft	-36.13%	-74.19%	4.10%
Charles River Associates	6.20%	27.31%	8.36%

Summary

Charles River Associates beats Skillsoft on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Skillsoft

Skillsoft Corp. provides content and platform and instructor-led training services in the United States and internationally. The company's Content & Platform segment engages in the sale, marketing, and delivery of its content learning solutions in areas, such as leadership and business, technology and developer, and compliance comprising individualized coaching, as well as technical skill areas. This segment also offers Percipio, an AI-driven online learning platform that delivers a learning experience through SaaS solutions. Its Instructor-Led Training segment provides training solutions, including information technology and business skills for corporations and their employees by guiding its customers throughout their lifelong technology learning journey by offering relevant and up-to-date skills training through instructor-led and self-paced, vendor certified, and other proprietary offerings. The company markets and sells their offerings to businesses of many sizes, government agencies, educational institutions, and resellers. Skillsoft Corp. is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

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.