Head to Head Analysis: Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) versus Hays (OTCMKTS:HAYPF)

Hays (OTCMKTS:HAYPF) and Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Hays and Kelly Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hays	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kelly Services	1.09%	7.82%	3.88%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

36.8% of Hays shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.3% of Kelly Services shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Kelly Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Hays and Kelly Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hays	0	0	0	0	N/A
Kelly Services	0	0	1	0	3.00

Kelly Services has a consensus price target of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 36.09%. Given Kelly Services’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Kelly Services is more favorable than Hays.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hays and Kelly Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hays	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.06	21.29
Kelly Services	$4.45 billion	0.17	$36.40 million	$1.39	15.33

Kelly Services has higher revenue and earnings than Hays. Kelly Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hays, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Hays pays an annual dividend of $0.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Kelly Services pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Hays pays out 39.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kelly Services pays out 21.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

Kelly Services 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 accountancy and finance, banking and capital markets, construction and property, contact centers, education, energy, oil and gas, engineering and manufacturing, executive, financial services, health and social care, human resources, legal, life sciences, office support, procurement, resources and mining, retail, sales and marketing, sustainability, technology, and telecoms. Hays plc was founded in 1968 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides workforce solutions to various industries. The company operates through five segments: Professional & Industrial; Science, Engineering & Technology; Education; Outsourcing & Consulting; and International. The Professional & Industrial segment delivers staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services providing administrative, accounting, and finance; light industrial; contact center staffing; and other workforce solutions. The Science, Engineering & Technology segment offers staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services in the areas of science and clinical research, engineering, technology, and telecommunications specialties. The Education segment provides staffing, permanent placement, and executive search services to pre-K-12 school districts and education organizations. The Outsourcing & Consulting segment offers managed service provider, recruitment process outsourcing, payroll process outsourcing, and executive coaching programs to customers on a global basis that includes its RocketPower brand. The International segment provides staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, and permanent placement services. The company serves customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Russia, Italy, rest of Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Kelly Services, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Troy, Michigan.