Head to Head Contrast: HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) & Where Food Comes From (NASDAQ:WFCF)

Where Food Comes From (NASDAQ:WFCF) and HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Where Food Comes From has a beta of 0.15, suggesting that its stock price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HireQuest has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

18.8% of Where Food Comes From shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.0% of HireQuest shares are owned by institutional investors. 53.5% of Where Food Comes From shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 42.9% of HireQuest shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Where Food Comes From and HireQuest”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Where Food Comes From	$25.03 million	2.63	$1.54 million	$0.28	47.19
HireQuest	$30.64 million	7.80	$6.33 million	$0.57	30.18

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

Profitability

This table compares Where Food Comes From and HireQuest’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Where Food Comes From	5.78%	15.39%	10.24%
HireQuest	27.06%	16.35%	12.11%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Where Food Comes From and HireQuest, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Where Food Comes From	0	1	0	0	2.00
HireQuest	0	1	2	0	2.67

HireQuest has a consensus target price of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.47%. Given HireQuest’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe HireQuest is more favorable than Where Food Comes From.

Summary

HireQuest beats Where Food Comes From on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Where Food Comes From

Where Food Comes From, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a third-party food verification company in North America. The company operates through Verification and Certification, and Professional Services segments. It conducts on-site and desk audits to verify that claims being made about livestock, food, other specialty crops, and agricultural and aquaculture products are accurate, as well as offers Where Food Comes From Source Verified retail and restaurant labeling program, which connects consumers directly to the source of the food they purchase through product labeling, and web-based information sharing and education. It also offers professional services and technology solutions; verification solutions; and consulting services, as well as sells hardware. The company serves beef and pork packers, organic producers and processors, and specialty retail chains. The company was formerly known as Integrated Management Information, Inc. and changed its name to Where Food Comes From, Inc. in December 2012. Where Food Comes From, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Castle Rock, Colorado.

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.