Critical Contrast: Korn/Ferry International (KFY) and The Competition

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

Profitability

This table compares Korn/Ferry International and its competitors’ 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%

Volatility & Risk

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Korn/Ferry International and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Korn/Ferry International	0	1	1	0	2.50
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	92	604	743	46	2.50

Korn/Ferry International presently has a consensus target price of $81.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.34%. As a group, “Staffing” companies have a potential upside of 30.44%. Given Korn/Ferry International’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Korn/Ferry International has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

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 41.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Staffing” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.3% and pay out 138.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Korn/Ferry International has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Korn/Ferry International	$2.76 billion	$246.06 million	15.61
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	$4.43 billion	$37.26 million	7.55

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

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 company insiders. Comparatively, 16.1% of shares of all “Staffing” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Korn/Ferry International beats its competitors 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.