Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN – Get Free Report) and Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.
Risk and Volatility
Willdan Group has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Thomson Reuters has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Willdan Group and Thomson Reuters, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Willdan Group | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.00 |
| Thomson Reuters | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 2.67 |
Willdan Group presently has a consensus price target of $118.33, indicating a potential upside of 58.60%. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $127.99, indicating a potential upside of 5.18%. Given Willdan Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Willdan Group is more favorable than Thomson Reuters.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
72.3% of Willdan Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of Thomson Reuters shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Willdan Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Willdan Group and Thomson Reuters’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Willdan Group | 8.80% | 24.51% | 13.92% |
| Thomson Reuters | 21.22% | 15.82% | 10.27% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Willdan Group and Thomson Reuters”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Willdan Group | $681.55 million | 1.67 | $52.56 million | $4.26 | 17.51 |
| Thomson Reuters | $7.48 billion | 7.05 | $1.50 billion | $3.76 | 32.36 |
Thomson Reuters has higher revenue and earnings than Willdan Group. Willdan Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Thomson Reuters, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Willdan Group beats Thomson Reuters on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Willdan Group
Willdan Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services. The Engineering and Consulting segment provides building and safety, city engineering and code enforcement, development plan review and inspection, disaster recovery, geotechnical and earthquake engineering, planning and surveying, contract staff support, program and construction management, structural engineering, transportation and traffic engineering, and water resources services. This segment also offers district administration, financial consulting, and federal compliance services. It serves public and governmental agencies, including cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, water districts, school districts, and universities; investor and municipal owned energy utilities; state and federal agencies; and commercial and industrial firms, as well as various other special districts and agencies. The company was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California.
About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. The Corporates segment provides a suite of content-enabled technology solutions for legal, tax, regulatory, compliance, and IT professionals. The Tax & Accounting Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on tax offerings and automating tax workflows to tax, accounting, and audit professionals in accounting firms. The Reuters News segment provides business, financial, and international news to media organizations, professional, and news consumers through news agency and industry events. The Global Print segment offers legal and tax information primarily in print format to legal and tax professionals, governments, law schools, and corporations. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thomson Reuters Corporation is a subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited.
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