Contrasting Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) and Wolters Kluwer (OTCMKTS:WTKWY)

Wolters Kluwer (OTCMKTS:WTKWY) and Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Wolters Kluwer and Willdan Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wolters Kluwer	$6.93 billion	2.43	$1.48 billion	N/A	N/A
Willdan Group	$681.55 million	1.77	$52.56 million	$3.48	23.51

Wolters Kluwer has higher revenue and earnings than Willdan Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Wolters Kluwer and Willdan Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wolters Kluwer	1	0	3	0	2.50
Willdan Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Willdan Group has a consensus price target of $124.33, suggesting a potential upside of 51.96%. Given Willdan Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Willdan Group is more favorable than Wolters Kluwer.

Profitability

This table compares Wolters Kluwer and Willdan Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wolters Kluwer	N/A	N/A	N/A
Willdan Group	7.71%	23.34%	12.78%

Risk and Volatility

Wolters Kluwer has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Willdan Group has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Wolters Kluwer shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.3% of Willdan Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.6% of Willdan Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Willdan Group beats Wolters Kluwer on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer N.V. provides professional information, software solutions, and services in the Netherlands, rest of Europe, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through Health; Tax & Accounting; Financial & Corporate Compliance; Legal & Regulatory; and Corporate Performance & ESG segments. The Health segment offers clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that drive effective decision-making and improved outcomes across healthcare. It serves hospitals, healthcare organizations, clinicians, students, schools, libraries, payers, life sciences, and pharmacies. The Tax & Accounting segment offers solutions that help tax, accounting, and audit professionals to drive productivity, navigate change, and deliver better outcomes. It serves accounting firms, tax and auditing departments, businesses of all sizes, government agencies, libraries, and universities. The Financial & Corporate Compliance segment offers solutions for legal entity compliance and banking product compliance. It serves corporations, small businesses, law firms, banks, non-bank lenders, credit unions, insurers, and securities firms. The Legal & Regulatory segment provides information, insights, and workflow solutions for changing regulatory obligations, managing risk, and increasing efficiency. It provides solutions for legal and compliance professionals in law firms, corporate legal departments, universities, and government organizations. The Corporate Performance & ESG segment offers enterprise software to drive financial and sustainability performance and manage risks, meet reporting requirements, improve safety and productivity, and reduce environmental impact. It serves corporate finance, audit, planning, risk, environmental, health and safety, operational risk management, and sustainability professionals in corporations, banks, and governments. Wolters Kluwer N.V. was founded in 1836 and is based in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services. The Engineering and Consulting segment provides building and safety, city engineering and code enforcement, development plan review and inspection, disaster recovery, geotechnical and earthquake engineering, planning and surveying, contract staff support, program and construction management, structural engineering, transportation and traffic engineering, and water resources services. This segment also offers district administration, financial consulting, and federal compliance services. It serves public and governmental agencies, including cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, water districts, school districts, and universities; investor and municipal owned energy utilities; state and federal agencies; and commercial and industrial firms, as well as various other special districts and agencies. The company was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California.