HireQuest (HQI) Competitors

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) and HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk, media sentiment and community ranking.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer TBI or HQI?

TrueBlue received 319 more outperform votes than HireQuest when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 68.18% of users gave HireQuest an outperform vote while only 63.14% of users gave TrueBlue an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
TrueBlue	Outperform Votes 334 63.14%	Underperform Votes 195 36.86%
HireQuest	Outperform Votes 15 68.18%	Underperform Votes 7 31.82%

Is TBI or HQI more profitable?

HireQuest has a net margin of 4.04% compared to TrueBlue's net margin of -6.97%. HireQuest's return on equity of 11.02% beat TrueBlue's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TrueBlue	-6.97%	-2.69%	-1.32%
HireQuest	4.04%	11.02%	6.69%

Which has more risk & volatility, TBI or HQI?

TrueBlue has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HireQuest has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to TBI or HQI?

In the previous week, HireQuest had 4 more articles in the media than TrueBlue. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for HireQuest and 3 mentions for TrueBlue. TrueBlue's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat HireQuest's score of 0.72 indicating that TrueBlue is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
TrueBlue	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
HireQuest	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of TBI or HQI?

97.2% of TrueBlue shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.0% of HireQuest shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of TrueBlue shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 43.9% of HireQuest shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer TBI or HQI?

TrueBlue currently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 61.06%. HireQuest has a consensus price target of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 21.15%. Given TrueBlue's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TrueBlue is more favorable than HireQuest.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TrueBlue	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
HireQuest	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has higher earnings and valuation, TBI or HQI?

HireQuest has lower revenue, but higher earnings than TrueBlue. TrueBlue is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HireQuest, 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
TrueBlue	$1.91B	0.11	-$14.17M	-$3.84	-1.86
HireQuest	$37.88M	5.64	$6.14M	$0.11	138.82

Summary

HireQuest beats TrueBlue on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.