Financial Analysis: Korn/Ferry International (KFY) versus Its Rivals

Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) is one of 19 publicly-traded companies in the “Staffing” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Korn/Ferry International to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Korn/Ferry International pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Korn/Ferry International pays out 41.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Staffing” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.5% and pay out 142.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Korn/Ferry International has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Korn/Ferry International and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Korn/Ferry International	0	1	1	0	2.50
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	91	602	741	45	2.50

Korn/Ferry International currently has a consensus price target of $81.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.21%. As a group, “Staffing” companies have a potential upside of 33.94%. Given Korn/Ferry International’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Korn/Ferry International has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.8% of Korn/Ferry International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.8% of shares of all “Staffing” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Korn/Ferry International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.9% of shares of all “Staffing” companies are owned 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Korn/Ferry International and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Korn/Ferry International	$2.76 billion	$169.15 million	15.12
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	$4.42 billion	$33.21 million	6.57

Korn/Ferry International’s rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Korn/Ferry International. Korn/Ferry International is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Korn/Ferry International has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Korn/Ferry International’s rivals have a beta of 0.84, meaning that their average share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Korn/Ferry International and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Korn/Ferry International	8.91%	14.49%	7.21%
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	-98.39%	-16.17%	-8.84%

Summary

Korn/Ferry International beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Korn/Ferry International

Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, provides organizational consulting services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consulting, Digital, Executive Search, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) & Professional Search. The company provides executive search services to recruit board level, chief executive, other senior executive, and general management talent of organizations. It also offers organizational strategy, assessment and succession, leadership and professional development, and total reward services. In addition, the company provides RPO, business project, professional search, and outsource recruiting solutions. Further, the company offers tech-enabled solutions that identify structures, roles, capabilities, and behaviors to drive businesses. It serves public and private companies, and middle market and emerging growth companies, as well as government and non-profit organizations. The company was formerly known as Korn/Ferry International and changed its name to Korn Ferry in January 2019. Korn Ferry was founded in 1969 and is based in Los Angeles, California.