Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) & SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP) Head to Head Survey

SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP) and Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

9.6% of SPAR Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.5% of Cintas shares are owned by institutional investors. 50.9% of SPAR Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.0% of Cintas shares are owned 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for SPAR Group and Cintas, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SPAR Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Cintas	2	5	6	1	2.43

Cintas has a consensus price target of $224.54, indicating a potential upside of 9.80%. Given Cintas’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cintas is more favorable than SPAR Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SPAR Group and Cintas”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SPAR Group	$163.63 million	0.17	-$3.15 million	$0.51	2.30
Cintas	$10.34 billion	7.97	$1.81 billion	$4.41	46.37

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

Profitability

This table compares SPAR Group and Cintas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SPAR Group	-3.78%	-18.99%	-7.40%
Cintas	17.53%	41.21%	19.14%

Volatility & Risk

SPAR Group has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cintas has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cintas beats SPAR Group on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SPAR Group

SPAR Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides merchandising and brand marketing services in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The company offers merchandising and marketing services, such as resets and cut-ins; price and inventory audits; stock replenishment and rotation services; out of stock management; promotional event setup; and display management, as well as category management and set up services comprising category and product resets; planogram maintenance; display and shelf services; and point of purchase installation and management. It also provides remodel and retail transformation consisting of store remodels, store department resets, fixture and banner installations, pop-up store services, and store closings; and assembly and installation services, including assembly of merchandise in stores, in-store services, office setup/down-sizing services, and national in-home furniture assembly services. In addition, the company offers business analytics and insights services, such as product dashboards, stock out reporting, visit reporting, real-time service insights, and share of shelf analytics; and fulfillment and distribution services comprising distribution center staffing, point of purchase fulfillment services, kiosk prep, returns processing, picking and packing services, and inventory services. The company serves mass merchandisers; HBAs; pharmacies; and grocery, discount, dollar, convenience, cash and carry, home improvement, consumer electronics, automotive aftermarket, office supply, personal technology, beverage, household products, consumables, financial products, and independent stores. SPAR Group, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation engages in the provision of corporate identity uniforms and related business services primarily in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Uniform Rental and Facility Services, First Aid and Safety Services, and All Other segments. The company rents and services uniforms and other garments, including flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and other ancillary items; and provides restroom cleaning services and supplies, as well as sells uniforms. In addition, the company offers first aid and safety services, and fire protection products and services. It provides its products and services through its distribution network and local delivery routes, or local representatives to small service and manufacturing companies, as well as major corporations. The company was founded in 1968 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cintas Corporation was formerly a subsidiary of Cintas Corporation.