Contrasting Environmental Service Professional (OTCMKTS:EVSP) and Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG)

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) and Environmental Service Professional (OTCMKTS:EVSP) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Healthcare Services Group and Environmental Service Professional’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Healthcare Services Group	3.21%	16.04%	9.94%
Environmental Service Professional	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Healthcare Services Group and Environmental Service Professional, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Healthcare Services Group	0	4	4	0	2.50
Environmental Service Professional	0	0	0	0	0.00

Healthcare Services Group currently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.80%. Given Healthcare Services Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Healthcare Services Group is more favorable than Environmental Service Professional.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.0% of Healthcare Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Healthcare Services Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Healthcare Services Group and Environmental Service Professional”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Healthcare Services Group	$1.84 billion	0.82	$59.06 million	$0.82	26.10
Environmental Service Professional	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Healthcare Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Environmental Service Professional.

Summary

Healthcare Services Group beats Environmental Service Professional on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary. The Housekeeping segment engages in the cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing of resident rooms and common areas of the customers' facilities, as well as laundering and processing of the bed linens, uniforms, resident personal clothing, and other assorted linen items utilized at the customers' facilities. The Dietary segment provides food purchasing, meal preparation, and professional dietitian services, which include the development of menus that meet the dietary needs of residents; and on-site management and clinical consulting services to facilities. It serves long-term and post-acute care facilities, hospitals, and the healthcare industry through referrals and solicitation of target facilities. The company was incorporated in 1976 and is based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

About Environmental Service Professional

Environmental Service Professionals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides environmental consulting services for addressing mold and moisture intrusion and the associated acute or chronic issues that impact the interior air quality of commercial and residential buildings. The company offers Certified Environmental Home Inspector (CEHI) program, a training, certification, inspection, and results reporting analysis program that provides moisture and toxin inspection, as well as energy use awareness to residential and commercial clients. It also provides cross-training on CEHI programs for insurance companies, underwriters, and loss control and risk management personnel. Environmental Service Professionals, Inc. was formerly known as Pacific Environmental Sampling, Inc. and changed its name to Environmental Service Professionals, Inc. in October 2006. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is based in Palm Springs, California.