TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI – Get Free Report) and Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR – Get Free Report) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.
Risk and Volatility
TrueBlue has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Asure Software has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
97.2% of TrueBlue shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.6% of Asure Software shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of TrueBlue shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Asure Software shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| TrueBlue | $1.62 billion | 0.17 | -$47.96 million | ($1.88) | -4.90 |
| Asure Software | $140.54 million | 1.58 | -$13.13 million | ($0.29) | -26.48 |
Asure Software has lower revenue, but higher earnings than TrueBlue. Asure Software is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TrueBlue, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares TrueBlue and Asure Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| TrueBlue | -3.35% | -6.26% | -2.65% |
| Asure Software | -5.42% | 8.19% | 3.27% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for TrueBlue and Asure Software, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| TrueBlue | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Asure Software | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.60 |
TrueBlue currently has a consensus target price of $7.75, indicating a potential downside of 15.85%. Asure Software has a consensus target price of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 69.27%. Given Asure Software’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Asure Software is more favorable than TrueBlue.
Summary
Asure Software beats TrueBlue on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Asure Software
Asure Software, Inc. engages in the provision of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions in the United States. It provides its human resources (HR) tool as Software-as-a-Service that helps various small and medium-sized businesses to build productive workforce to help them stay compliant and allocate resources to grow their business. The company's solutions include Asure Payroll & Tax, an integrated solution that simplifies payroll and automates regulations associated with payroll and taxes, including wages, benefits, overtime, garnishments, tips, direct deposits, and fair labor standard act, as well as federal, state, and local payroll taxes; and Tax Management Solutions, that provides payroll tax processing software and service solutions, as well as bulk filing and processing support of employee retention tax credits, for the payroll service industry, mid-market, and corporate employers. It also provides HR compliance and services, including HR support, which provides an on-demand HR resource library, phone, and email support for various HR issues and compliance, and policy updates; Strategic HR, which provides in-depth support for strategic HR decision making; and Total HR, which provides a complete HR outsourcing solution, for handling HR complexities, such as employee self-service, applicant tracking, onboarding, and compliance. In addition, the company offers Time and Attendance, which provides cost savings and return on investment gains come in the form of strategic use of labor dollars and the elimination of time theft; and AsureMarketplace that automates interactions between its HCM systems with third-party providers. Asure Software, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
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