Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT – Get Free Report) and Perma-Fix Environmental Services (NASDAQ:PESI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Profitability
This table compares Liquidity Services and Perma-Fix Environmental Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Liquidity Services | 6.79% | 17.60% | 9.86% |
| Perma-Fix Environmental Services | -37.04% | -35.46% | -20.22% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Liquidity Services and Perma-Fix Environmental Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Liquidity Services | $476.67 million | 2.77 | $28.09 million | $1.02 | 41.27 |
| Perma-Fix Environmental Services | $61.67 million | 6.43 | -$13.78 million | ($1.13) | -16.55 |
Liquidity Services has higher revenue and earnings than Perma-Fix Environmental Services. Perma-Fix Environmental Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liquidity Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Liquidity Services has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perma-Fix Environmental Services has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
71.2% of Liquidity Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of Perma-Fix Environmental Services shares are held by institutional investors. 28.1% of Liquidity Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Perma-Fix Environmental Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Liquidity Services and Perma-Fix Environmental Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Liquidity Services | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3.33 |
| Perma-Fix Environmental Services | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Liquidity Services currently has a consensus price target of $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.76%. Given Liquidity Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Liquidity Services is more favorable than Perma-Fix Environmental Services.
Summary
Liquidity Services beats Perma-Fix Environmental Services on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Liquidity Services
Liquidity Services, Inc. provides e-commerce marketplaces, self-directed auction listing tools, and value-added services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: GovDeals, Retail Supply Chain Group (RSCG), Capital Assets Group (CAG), and Machinio. Its marketplaces include liquidation.com that enable corporations to sell surplus and salvage consumer goods and retail capital assets; GovDeals marketplace, which provides self-directed service solutions in which sellers list their own assets that enables local and state government entities, and commercial businesses located in the United States and Canada to sell surplus and salvage assets; and AllSurplus, a centralized marketplace that connects global buyer base with assets from across the network of marketplaces in a single destination. The company also offers a suite of services, including surplus management, asset valuation, asset sales, marketing, returns management, asset recovery, and ecommerce services. In addition, it operates a global search engine platform for listing used equipment for sale in the construction, machine tool, transportation, printing, and agriculture sectors. The company offers products from industry verticals, such as consumer electronics, general merchandise, apparel, scientific equipment, aerospace parts and equipment, technology hardware, real estate, energy equipment, industrial capital assets, heavy equipment, fleet and transportation equipment, and specialty equipment. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
About Perma-Fix Environmental Services
Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an environmental and technology know-how company in the United States. The company through Treatment and Services segments. The Treatment segment offers nuclear, low-level radioactive, mixed waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment, and processing and disposal services through treatment and storage facilities. This segment is also involved in the research and development activities to identify, develop, and implement waste processing techniques for problematic waste streams. The Services segment provides technical services, including professional radiological measurement and site survey of government and commercial installations; health physics services; integrated occupational safety and health services; and consulting, engineering, project and waste management, environmental, decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) field, technical and management personnel and services; and waste management services. This segment also offers nuclear services, including D&D of government and commercial facilities, including engineering, technology applications, specialty services, logistics, transportation, processing, and disposal; and license termination support, such as project management, planning, characterization, waste stream identification and delineation, remediation/demolition, compliance demonstration, final status survey, reporting, transportation, disposal and emergency response. In addition, it maintains, services, maintains, calibrates, and sources health physics, IH and customized nuclear, environmental, and occupational safety and health instruments. The company provides its services to research institutions, commercial companies, public utilities, and governmental agencies through direct sales to customers or through intermediaries. Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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