Mistras Group (NYSE:MG) and Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC) Critical Review

Mistras Group (NYSE:MG) and Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Mistras Group and Franklin Covey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mistras Group	2.78%	11.13%	4.57%
Franklin Covey	1.88%	25.57%	5.52%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Mistras Group and Franklin Covey, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mistras Group	0	2	1	0	2.33
Franklin Covey	1	1	2	0	2.25

Mistras Group currently has a consensus target price of $18.18, indicating a potential downside of 9.85%. Franklin Covey has a consensus target price of $27.50, indicating a potential upside of 71.70%. Given Franklin Covey’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Franklin Covey is more favorable than Mistras Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mistras Group and Franklin Covey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mistras Group	$724.02 million	0.89	$16.84 million	$0.83	24.29
Franklin Covey	$261.45 million	0.69	$3.07 million	$0.45	35.59

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.9% of Mistras Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.9% of Franklin Covey shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Mistras Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Franklin Covey shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Mistras Group has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Covey has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mistras Group beats Franklin Covey on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mistras Group

Mistras Group, Inc. provides technology-enabled asset protection solutions in the United States, other Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers non-destructive testing services; inline inspection for pipelines; and plant condition management software. It also provides maintenance and light mechanical services, such as corrosion removal, mitigation and prevention, insulation installation and removal, electrical, heat tracing, industrial cleaning, pipefitting, and welding; engineering consulting services primarily for process equipment, technologies, and facilities; and utilizes scaffolding and rope access to access at-height and confined assets. In addition, the company offers certified divers for subsea inspection and maintenance; unmanned aerial, land-based, and subsea systems for inspection applications; online condition-monitoring solutions; quality assurance and quality control solutions for new and existing metal and alloy components, materials, and composites. Further, it builds monitoring systems, as well as provides inspection, maintenance, monitoring and data services; and Web-based solutions. Additionally, the company designs, manufactures, and sells acoustic emission sensors, instruments, and turnkey systems for monitoring and testing materials, pressure components, processes, and structures; and ultrasonic testing equipment. It serves oil and gas, aerospace and defense, fossil and nuclear power, power generation and transmission, civil infrastructure, manufacturing, industrial, public infrastructure, petrochemical, transportation, and other process industries, as well as infrastructure, research, and engineering industries. Mistras Group, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.

About Franklin Covey

Franklin Covey Co. provides training and consulting services in the areas of execution, sales performance, productivity, customer loyalty, and educational improvement for organizations and individuals worldwide. The company operates through Direct Offices, International Licensees, and Education Practice segments. It also provides a suite of individual-effectiveness and leadership-development training and products. In addition, the company operates Strive platform, a learning deployment platform; Impact platform that helps automate implementation of learning initiatives; All Access Pass, a subscription platform that enables improved deployment of content, services, technology, and metrics to deliver behavioral impact at scale; and Leader in Me, which provides access to digital versions of student leadership guides, leadership lessons, illustrated leadership stories, and other resources. Franklin Covey Co. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.