ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) & Forrester Research (NASDAQ:FORR) Head-To-Head Analysis

ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) and Forrester Research (NASDAQ:FORR) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for ICF International and Forrester Research, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICF International	0	2	2	0	2.50
Forrester Research	1	1	0	0	1.50

ICF International currently has a consensus price target of $105.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.27%. Given ICF International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe ICF International is more favorable than Forrester Research.

Profitability

This table compares ICF International and Forrester Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICF International	4.86%	11.53%	5.73%
Forrester Research	-11.17%	6.19%	1.93%

Volatility and Risk

ICF International has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Forrester Research has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.1% of ICF International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.2% of Forrester Research shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of ICF International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 40.7% of Forrester Research shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ICF International and Forrester Research”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICF International	$1.87 billion	0.78	$91.59 million	$4.83	16.95
Forrester Research	$396.89 million	0.54	-$119.36 million	($2.25)	-4.99

ICF International has higher revenue and earnings than Forrester Research. Forrester Research is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ICF International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

ICF International beats Forrester Research on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ICF International

ICF International, Inc. provides management, technology, and policy consulting and implementation services to government and commercial clients in the United States and internationally. The company researches critical policy, industry, stakeholder issues, trends, and behaviors; measures and evaluates results and their impact; and provides strategic planning and advisory services to its clients on how to navigate societal, business, market, business, communication, and technology challenges. It also identifies, defines, and implements policies, plans, programs, and business tools through a range of standard and customized methodologies for its clients' business context; conducts survey research; collects and analyzes various data to understand critical issues and options for its clients; and provides actionable business intelligence, as well as information and data management solutions that allow integrated and purpose-driven data usage. In addition, the company provides solutions to optimize the customer and citizen experience; modernizes IT systems; and cyber security solutions that support the range of cyber security missions and protect IT infrastructures in the face of relentless threats, as well as designs, develops, and implements technology systems and business tools that are key to its clients' mission or business performance. Further, it informs and engages its clients' constituents, customers, and employees through public relations, branding and marketing, multichannel and strategic communications, and reputation issues management. The company serves energy, environment, infrastructure, and disaster recovery; health and social programs; and security and other civilian and commercial markets. The company was formerly known as ICF Consulting Group Holdings, LLC and changed its name to ICF International, Inc. in 2006. ICF International, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About Forrester Research

Forrester Research, Inc. operates as an independent research and advisory company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Research, Consulting, and Events. The Research segment primary subscription research services include Forrester Decisions, Forrester Research, and SiriusDecisions Research, which are designed to provide business and technology leaders with a proven path to growth through customer obsession. This segment delivers content, such as future trends, predictions, and market forecasts; deep consumer and business buyer data and insights; curated best practice models and tools to run business functions; operational and performance benchmarking data; and technology and service market landscapes and vendor evaluations. The Consulting segment provides consulting projects, include conducting maturity assessments, prioritizing best practices, developing strategies, building business cases, selecting technology vendors, structuring organizations, developing content marketing strategies and collateral, and sales tools; and advisory services. The Events segment hosts events related to business-to-business marketing, sales and product leadership, customer experience, security and risk, new technology and innovation, and data strategies and insights. The company sells its products and services through direct sales force in various locations. Forrester Research, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.