TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) and KBR (NYSE:KBR) Head-To-Head Review

KBR (NYSE:KBR) and TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for KBR and TrueBlue, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KBR	0	5	3	0	2.38
TrueBlue	1	1	1	0	2.00

KBR presently has a consensus price target of $44.83, indicating a potential upside of 14.18%. TrueBlue has a consensus price target of $7.75, indicating a potential downside of 17.01%. Given KBR’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe KBR is more favorable than TrueBlue.

Volatility and Risk

KBR has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TrueBlue has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares KBR and TrueBlue”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KBR	$7.72 billion	0.64	$415.00 million	$3.32	11.83
TrueBlue	$1.69 billion	0.17	-$47.96 million	($1.88)	-4.97

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

Profitability

This table compares KBR and TrueBlue’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KBR	5.49%	32.55%	7.62%
TrueBlue	-3.35%	-6.26%	-2.65%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of KBR shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of TrueBlue shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of KBR shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of TrueBlue shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

KBR beats TrueBlue on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KBR

KBR, Inc. provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Its services cover research and development, advanced prototyping, acquisition support, systems engineering, cyber analytics, space domain awareness, test and evaluation, systems integration and program management, global supply chain management, and operations readiness and support, as well as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services. This segment also provides various professional advisory services to the defense, renewable energy, and critical infrastructure sectors. The Sustainable Technology Solutions segment operates portfolio of various proprietary process technologies for ammonia/syngas, chemical/petrochemicals, clean refining, and circular process/circular economy solutions. This segment also provides synergistic services, including advisory and consulting focused on broad-based energy transition and net-zero carbon emission solutions; high-end engineering, design and program management centered around decarbonization, energy efficiency, environmental impact and asset optimization; and digitally-enabled operating and monitoring solutions. KBR, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About TrueBlue

TrueBlue, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The company PeopleReady segment provides general, industrial, and skilled trade contingent staffing services for construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and renewable energy industries. The PeopleManagement segment offers contingent, on-site industrial staffing, and commercial driver services, which includes on-site management and recruitment for the contingent industrial workforce of manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution facilities; and recruitment and management of contingent and dedicated commercial drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Staff Management, SIMOS Insourcing Solutions, and Centerline Drivers brands. The company PeopleScout segment provides recruitment process outsourcing, talent advisory services, and managed service provider solutions including sourcing, screening, hiring, and onboarding services; operates Affinix, a technology platform for sourcing, screening, and delivering a permanent workforce to its clients; talent advisory services, such as employer branding, recruitment marketing, talent insights, diversity, equity and inclusion consulting, candidate assessment, and talent acquisition strategy consulting services; and contingent labor programs including vendor selection, performance management, compliance monitoring, and risk management. TrueBlue, Inc. was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.