Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) versus Insperity (NYSE:NSP) Critical Survey

Insperity (NYSE:NSP) and Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Insperity has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jacobs Solutions has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Insperity and Jacobs Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Insperity	2	2	1	0	1.80
Jacobs Solutions	0	6	5	0	2.45

Insperity currently has a consensus price target of $53.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.59%. Jacobs Solutions has a consensus price target of $156.78, suggesting a potential upside of 7.16%. Given Insperity’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Insperity is more favorable than Jacobs Solutions.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.4% of Insperity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.7% of Jacobs Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of Insperity shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Jacobs Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Insperity pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Jacobs Solutions pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Insperity pays out 3,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Jacobs Solutions pays out 51.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Insperity has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Jacobs Solutions has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Insperity is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Insperity and Jacobs Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Insperity	$6.81 billion	0.28	-$7.00 million	$0.08	619.62
Jacobs Solutions	$12.03 billion	1.44	$289.34 million	$2.82	51.88

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

Profitability

This table compares Insperity and Jacobs Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Insperity	0.04%	18.27%	0.45%
Jacobs Solutions	2.40%	23.96%	7.02%

Summary

Jacobs Solutions beats Insperity on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Insperity

Insperity, Inc. engages in the provision of human resources (HR) and business solutions to improve business performance for small and medium-sized businesses primarily in the United States. It offers its HR services through its workforce optimization and workforce synchronization solutions that include a range of human resources functions, such as payroll and employment administration, employee benefits, workers' compensation, government compliance, performance management, and training and development services. The company also provides Insperity Premier, a cloud-based human capital management platform that offers professional employer organization HR outsourcing solutions to its clients; people management services; and employer liability management services, as well as solutions for middle market. In addition, it offers MarketPlace, an e-commerce portal that offers a range of products and services; and Workforce Acceleration, a human capital management and payroll services solution; integrated payroll; benefits administration; HR administration and employee onboarding; time and attendance; performance management; reporting and analytics; recruiting; employment screening; retirement; and insurance services. The company was formerly known as Administaff, Inc. and changed its name to Insperity, Inc. in March 2011. Insperity, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Kingwood, Texas.

About Jacobs Solutions

Jacobs Solutions Inc. provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments. The company offers cyber, data analytics, systems and software application integration and consulting, enterprise level and mission IT, design, nuclear, and enterprise level operations and maintenance services; software development, testing, mission integration, program management, research, development, test, evaluation services, training, and environmental remediation services; and other technical consulting solutions, as well as construction and construction management services. It also provides consulting services for consumer and manufacturing, defense and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government, health and life sciences, and transport industries. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.