Financial Comparison: Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) & Atlantic International (NASDAQ:ATLN)

Atlantic International (NASDAQ:ATLN) and Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.8% of Barrett Business Services shares are held by institutional investors. 22.3% of Atlantic International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Barrett Business Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Atlantic International has a beta of 1.76, meaning that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barrett Business Services has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Atlantic International and Barrett Business Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlantic International	N/A	-298.20%	-42.32%
Barrett Business Services	4.55%	25.28%	7.04%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Atlantic International and Barrett Business Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlantic International	$27.89 million	7.25	-$5.63 million	($8.24)	-0.49
Barrett Business Services	$1.14 billion	0.89	$50.61 million	$1.99	19.71

Barrett Business Services has higher revenue and earnings than Atlantic International. Atlantic International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barrett Business Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Atlantic International and Barrett Business Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlantic International	0	0	0	0	0.00
Barrett Business Services	0	1	2	0	2.67

Barrett Business Services has a consensus price target of $41.67, suggesting a potential upside of 6.21%. Given Barrett Business Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Barrett Business Services is more favorable than Atlantic International.

Summary

Barrett Business Services beats Atlantic International on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlantic International

Atlantic International Corp. engages in the design, development, and manufacture of genetic analysis technologies. Its services include RNA sequencing and DNA sequencing. The company was founded by William C. St. Laurent and Daniel R. Jones in 2013 and is headquartered in Billercia, MA.

About Barrett Business Services

Barrett Business Services, Inc. provides business management solutions for small and mid-sized companies in the United States. The company develops a management platform that integrates a knowledge-based approach from the management consulting industry with tools from the human resource outsourcing industry. It offers professional employer services under which it enters into a client services agreement to establish a co-employment relationship with each client company, assuming responsibility for payroll, payroll taxes, workers compensation coverage, and other administration functions for the client’s existing workforce. The company provides staffing and recruiting services, such as on-demand or short-term staffing assignment, contract staffing, direct placement, and long-term or indefinite-term on-site management services. It serves electronics manufacturers, light-manufacturing industries, agriculture-based companies, transportation and shipping enterprises, food processors, telecommunications companies, public utilities, general contractors in various construction-related fields, restaurant franchises, and professional services firms. Barrett Business Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.