Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) and SGS (OTCMKTS:SGSOY) Head to Head Comparison

SGS (OTCMKTS:SGSOY) and Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for SGS and Acacia Research, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SGS	0	2	0	3	3.20
Acacia Research	1	0	0	0	1.00

Profitability

This table compares SGS and Acacia Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SGS	N/A	N/A	N/A
Acacia Research	-2.60%	1.33%	1.00%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SGS and Acacia Research”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SGS	$7.72 billion	2.87	$659.96 million	N/A	N/A
Acacia Research	$122.31 million	2.80	-$36.06 million	($0.06)	-59.17

SGS has higher revenue and earnings than Acacia Research.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.7% of Acacia Research shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Acacia Research shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

SGS has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acacia Research has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SGS beats Acacia Research on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SGS

SGS SA provides inspection, testing, and verification services in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Connectivity & Products, Health & Nutrition, Industries & Environment, Natural Resources, and Business Assurance. The company provides laboratory testing, product inspection and consulting, process assessment, technical and transactional assistance; and automotive, connectivity, softlines and accessories, and hardgoods, toys, and juvenile products, as well as government and trade facilitation services. In addition, it offers a range of testing, inspection and certification solutions for the crop science, food, health science, and cosmetics and hygiene industries; field services, technical assessment, and advisory services; and services related to industrial, public health and safety, environmental testing, and public mandates. Further, it provides assessment, auditing, and certification, supply chain assurance, training, consulting, and sustainability assurance services; agricultural commodities, geochemistry, laboratory testing petroleum and chemicals, metallurgy and consulting, mineral and metal commodities, and oil, gas, and chemical commodities; and sustainability solutions. The company serves the agriculture and food, chemical, construction, consumer and retail, energy, industrial manufacturing, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, public, and transportation sectors. SGS SA was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

About Acacia Research

Acacia is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: ACTG) company that is focused on acquiring and operating businesses across the industrial, energy and technology sectors where it believes it can leverage its expertise, significant capital base, and deep industry relationships to drive value. Acacia evaluates opportunities based on the attractiveness of the underlying cash flows, without regard to a specific investment horizon. Acacia operates its businesses based on three key principles of people, process, and performance and has built a management team with demonstrated expertise in research, transactions and execution, and operations and management.