Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) and BrightView (NYSE:BV) Critical Contrast

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) and BrightView (NYSE:BV) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Aramark and BrightView, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aramark	0	2	8	1	2.91
BrightView	2	2	4	0	2.25

Aramark currently has a consensus target price of $45.33, suggesting a potential upside of 15.23%. BrightView has a consensus target price of $17.98, suggesting a potential upside of 41.69%. Given BrightView’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BrightView is more favorable than Aramark.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.4% of BrightView shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Aramark shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of BrightView shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Aramark has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BrightView has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Aramark and BrightView’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aramark	2.02%	15.67%	3.67%
BrightView	2.00%	8.76%	3.33%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aramark and BrightView”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aramark	$17.40 billion	0.59	$262.52 million	$1.35	29.14
BrightView	$2.77 billion	0.44	$66.40 million	$0.03	423.00

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

Summary

Aramark beats BrightView on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aramark

Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services. It also provides on-site restaurants, catering, convenience stores, and executive dining services; beverage and vending services; and facility management services comprising landscaping, transportation, capital program management, payment services, and other facility consulting services relating to building operations. In addition, the company offers concessions, banquet, and catering services; retail services and merchandise sale, recreational, and lodging services; and facility management services at sports, entertainment, and recreational facilities. Further, it offers correctional food; and operates commissaries, laundry facilities, and property rooms. It primarily serves business and industry, sports, leisure and corrections, education, healthcare, public institutions, manufacturing, transportation, service, and other industries. The company was formerly known as ARAMARK Holdings Corporation. Aramark was founded in 1959 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

About BrightView

BrightView Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Maintenance Services and Development Services. The Maintenance Services segment delivers a suite of recurring commercial landscaping services, including mowing, gardening, mulching and snow removal, water management, irrigation maintenance, tree care, golf course maintenance, and specialty turf maintenance. Its customers' properties include corporate and commercial properties, homeowners associations, public parks, hotels and resorts, airport authorities, municipalities, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, educational institutions, restaurants and retail, and golf courses. This segment's customer base includes approximately 8,800 office parks and corporate campuses 7,100 residential communities, and 550 educational institutions. The Development Services segment offers landscape architecture and development services for new facilities and redesign projects. Its services include project design and management services, landscape architecture and installation, irrigation installation, tree moving and installation, pool and water features, sports field, and other services. BrightView Holdings, Inc. also operates as official field consultant to various league baseball. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.