Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ:BWMN – Get Free Report) and SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP – Get Free Report) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
63.2% of Bowman Consulting Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.6% of SPAR Group shares are held by institutional investors. 17.4% of Bowman Consulting Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 50.9% of SPAR Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Bowman Consulting Group and SPAR Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Bowman Consulting Group | 2.48% | 4.78% | 2.25% |
| SPAR Group | -9.52% | -34.89% | -12.15% |
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Bowman Consulting Group | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
| SPAR Group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Bowman Consulting Group currently has a consensus target price of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 53.30%. Given Bowman Consulting Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Bowman Consulting Group is more favorable than SPAR Group.
Volatility and Risk
Bowman Consulting Group has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SPAR Group has a beta of 0.07, meaning that its stock price is 93% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Bowman Consulting Group and SPAR Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Bowman Consulting Group | $490.02 million | 1.04 | $12.85 million | $0.71 | 41.80 |
| SPAR Group | $163.63 million | 0.11 | -$3.15 million | ($0.07) | -10.43 |
Bowman Consulting Group has higher revenue and earnings than SPAR Group. SPAR Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bowman Consulting Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Bowman Consulting Group beats SPAR Group on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Bowman Consulting Group
Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. provides a range of real estate, energy, infrastructure, and environmental management solutions in the United States. It offers civil and site engineering services, such as conceptual land planning, environmental consulting and permitting, planning/zoning and entitlements, roadway and highway designs, erosion and sediment designs, stormwater management designs, construction administration, traffic studies, floodplain studies, and utility relocation designs; and commissioning and energy efficiency services comprise construction observation, direct systems functional performance testing, system development readiness checklist, post occupancy review, review of construction documents, deferred/seasonal functional testing, final commissioning report, and commissioning review of submittals. The company also provides construction management services, including constructability review, value engineering, budgeting and cost estimating, interagency and utility coordination, onsite observation and report evaluation, public communication and outreach, and resident engineer services, as well as bid solicitation, documentation, and preparation services; and environmental consulting services consisting of wetlands and waters of the U.S. delineations, natural resources inventories, wildlife and vegetation surveys, threatened and endangered species surveys, endangered species conservation and management, wetland creation and enhancement design, NEPA documentation, section 404/401 permitting and compliance, NPDES permitting, and phase I environmental site assessment. In addition, it offers landscape architecture, land procurement and right-of-way acquisition, structural engineering, surveying and geospatial engineering, and transportation and water resources engineering services, as well as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
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.
Receive News & Ratings for Bowman Consulting Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bowman Consulting Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
