Critical Review: IBEX (NASDAQ:IBEX) & APi Group (NYSE:APG)

IBEX (NASDAQ:IBEX) and APi Group (NYSE:APG) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

IBEX has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, APi Group has a beta of 1.68, suggesting that its share price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IBEX	$558.27 million	0.70	$36.86 million	$3.04	9.55
APi Group	$7.91 billion	2.45	$302.00 million	($0.76)	-59.06

APi Group has higher revenue and earnings than IBEX. APi Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IBEX, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for IBEX and APi Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IBEX	0	3	0	0	2.00
APi Group	0	2	7	1	2.90

IBEX currently has a consensus price target of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.56%. APi Group has a consensus price target of $48.57, indicating a potential upside of 8.22%. Given IBEX’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe IBEX is more favorable than APi Group.

Profitability

This table compares IBEX and APi Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IBEX	7.35%	31.70%	15.65%
APi Group	3.70%	37.92%	14.19%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.2% of IBEX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of APi Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of IBEX shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of APi Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

APi Group beats IBEX on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IBEX

IBEX Limited provides end-to-end technology-enabled customer lifecycle experience solutions in the United States and internationally. The company products and services portfolio includes ibex Connect, that offers customer service, technical support, revenue generation, and other revenue generation outsourced back-office services through the CX model, which integrates voice, email, chat, SMS, social media, and other communication applications; ibex Digital, a customer acquisition solution that comprises digital marketing, e-commerce technology, and platform solutions; and ibex CX, a customer experience solution, which provides a suite of proprietary software tools to measure, monitor, and manage its clients' customer experience. It operates customer engagement and customer acquisition delivery centers. The company serves banking and financial services, delivery and logistics, health tech and wellness, high tech, retail and e-commerce, streaming and entertainment, travel and hospitality, and utility industries. The company was formerly known as IBEX Holdings Limited and changed its name to IBEX Limited in September 2019. IBEX Limited was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia. The company is a subsidiary of The Resource Group International Limited.

About APi Group

APi Group Corporation provides safety and specialty services worldwide. It operates through Safety Services and Specialty Services segments. The Safety Services segment offers solutions focusing on end-to-end integrated occupancy systems, such as fire protection services; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions; and entry systems, which include the design, installation, inspection, and service of these integrated systems. The Specialty Services segment provides various infrastructure and specialized industrial plant services, including maintenance and repair of underground electric, gas, water, sewer, and telecommunications infrastructure. This segment offers engineering and design, fabrication, installation, maintenance service and repair, retrofitting and upgrading services, pipeline infrastructure, access and road construction, supporting facilities, and integrity management and maintenance to the energy industry. It serves customers in the public and private sectors, including commercial, industrial, distribution and fulfillment centers, manufacturing, education, healthcare, telecom, utilities, transmission and integrity, high tech, entertainment, government, and infrastructure markets. The company was formerly known as J2 Acquisition Limited and changed its name to APi Group Corporation in October 2019. APi Group Corporation was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in New Brighton, Minnesota.