Heidrick & Struggles International (HSII) Competitors

Heidrick & Struggles International (NASDAQ:HSII) and Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Does the media refer more to HSII or KFY?

In the previous week, Korn Ferry had 3 more articles in the media than Heidrick & Struggles International. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Korn Ferry and 1 mentions for Heidrick & Struggles International. Heidrick & Struggles International's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Korn Ferry's score of 0.87 indicating that Heidrick & Struggles International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Heidrick & Struggles International	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Korn Ferry	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer HSII or KFY?

Heidrick & Struggles International presently has a consensus target price of $46.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.20%. Korn Ferry has a consensus target price of $77.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.92%. Given Korn Ferry's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Korn Ferry is more favorable than Heidrick & Struggles International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heidrick & Struggles International	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Korn Ferry	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HSII or KFY?

Korn Ferry received 145 more outperform votes than Heidrick & Struggles International when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 55.93% of users gave Heidrick & Struggles International an outperform vote while only 55.06% of users gave Korn Ferry an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Heidrick & Struggles International	Outperform Votes 198 55.93%	Underperform Votes 156 44.07%
Korn Ferry	Outperform Votes 343 55.06%	Underperform Votes 280 44.94%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, HSII or KFY?

Korn Ferry has higher revenue and earnings than Heidrick & Struggles International. Korn Ferry is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heidrick & Struggles International, 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
Heidrick & Struggles International	$1.04B	0.90	$54.41M	$1.85	24.91
Korn Ferry	$2.80B	1.30	$169.15M	$4.68	15.11

Is HSII or KFY a better dividend stock?

Heidrick & Struggles International pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Korn Ferry pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Heidrick & Struggles International pays out 32.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Korn Ferry pays out 31.6% 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. Korn Ferry is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of HSII or KFY?

90.1% of Heidrick & Struggles International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.8% of Korn Ferry shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Heidrick & Struggles International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Korn Ferry shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is HSII or KFY more profitable?

Korn Ferry has a net margin of 9.03% compared to Heidrick & Struggles International's net margin of 3.53%. Korn Ferry's return on equity of 14.27% beat Heidrick & Struggles International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heidrick & Struggles International	3.53%	12.38%	5.44%
Korn Ferry	9.03%	14.27%	7.02%

Which has more risk and volatility, HSII or KFY?

Heidrick & Struggles International has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Korn Ferry has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its stock price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Korn Ferry beats Heidrick & Struggles International on 17 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.