CRA International (CRAI) Competitors

CRA International (NASDAQ:CRAI) and Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, community ranking, profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings and institutional ownership.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CRAI or EXPO?

Exponent has lower revenue, but higher earnings than CRA International. CRA International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Exponent, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CRA International	$672.59M	1.94	$38.48M	$6.18	31.17
Exponent	$544.65M	8.86	$100.34M	$2.07	45.92

Does the media favor CRAI or EXPO?

In the previous week, Exponent had 1 more articles in the media than CRA International. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Exponent and 7 mentions for CRA International. CRA International's average media sentiment score of 0.87 beat Exponent's score of 0.21 indicating that CRA International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CRA International	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Exponent	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend CRAI or EXPO?

CRA International presently has a consensus target price of $212.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.06%. Exponent has a consensus target price of $120.00, indicating a potential upside of 26.25%. Given Exponent's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Exponent is more favorable than CRA International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CRA International	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Exponent	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CRAI or EXPO?

84.1% of CRA International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of Exponent shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of CRA International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Exponent shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CRAI or EXPO more profitable?

Exponent has a net margin of 19.52% compared to CRA International's net margin of 6.41%. Exponent's return on equity of 27.73% beat CRA International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CRA International	6.41%	24.46%	8.98%
Exponent	19.52%	27.73%	15.59%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in CRAI or EXPO?

Exponent received 130 more outperform votes than CRA International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.17% of users gave Exponent an outperform vote while only 59.40% of users gave CRA International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CRA International	Outperform Votes 177 59.40%	Underperform Votes 121 40.60%
Exponent	Outperform Votes 307 63.17%	Underperform Votes 179 36.83%

Is CRAI or EXPO a better dividend stock?

CRA International pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Exponent pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. CRA International pays out 31.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Exponent pays out 54.1% 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. Exponent has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Exponent is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, CRAI or EXPO?

CRA International has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exponent has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Exponent beats CRA International on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.