Comparing RCM Technologies (NASDAQ:RCMT) and HAYS (OTCMKTS:HAYPY)

HAYS (OTCMKTS:HAYPY) and RCM Technologies (NASDAQ:RCMT) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.2% of RCM Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.4% of RCM Technologies 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for HAYS and RCM Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HAYS	0	1	0	1	3.00
RCM Technologies	0	0	1	1	3.50

RCM Technologies has a consensus price target of $33.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.89%. Given RCM Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe RCM Technologies is more favorable than HAYS.

Profitability

This table compares HAYS and RCM Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HAYS	N/A	N/A	N/A
RCM Technologies	4.53%	39.98%	10.57%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares HAYS and RCM Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HAYS	$8.55 billion	0.15	-$10.09 million	N/A	N/A
RCM Technologies	$278.38 million	0.73	$13.33 million	$1.76	15.49

RCM Technologies has lower revenue, but higher earnings than HAYS.

Risk and Volatility

HAYS has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RCM Technologies has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

RCM Technologies beats HAYS on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HAYS

Hays plc engages in the provision of recruitment services in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company provides qualified, professional, and skilled recruitment in permanent, temporary, and contractor formats to public and private sectors. It offers its recruitment services in the specialisms, such as technology, accountancy and finance, engineering, construction and property, office support, life sciences, sales and marketing, and others. Hays plc was founded in 1968 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About RCM Technologies

RCM Technologies, Inc. provides business and technology solutions in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Engineering, Specialty Health Care, and Life Sciences and Information Technology. The Engineering segment offers a range of engineering services, including project management engineering and design, engineering analysis, engineer-procure-construct, configuration management, hardware/software validation and verification, quality assurance, technical writing and publications, manufacturing process planning and improvement, and 3D/BIM integrated design. The Specialty Health Care segment provides long-term and short-term staffing, executive search, international recruitment, and placement services in the fields of allied and therapy staffing, correctional healthcare staffing, health information management, nursing services, physician and advanced practice, school staffing and recruitment, and telepractice. The Life Sciences and Information Technology segment offers enterprise business solutions, application services, IT infrastructure solutions, life sciences solutions, and other vertical market specific solutions; and data solutions, digitization, recruiting process outsourcing, human capital management solutions, workforce management, and consulting services. The company serves aerospace and defense, energy, financial services, health care, life sciences, manufacturing and distribution, and technology industries, as well as educational institutions and the public sector. RCM Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is based in Pennsauken, New Jersey.