Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG – Get Free Report) and Aramark (NYSE:ARMK – Get Free Report) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
86.7% of Acacia Research shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Acacia Research shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Aramark shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Acacia Research and Aramark, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Acacia Research | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Aramark | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2.78 |
Profitability
This table compares Acacia Research and Aramark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Acacia Research | 7.60% | 4.12% | 3.04% |
| Aramark | 1.69% | 16.15% | 3.75% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Acacia Research and Aramark”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Acacia Research | $285.23 million | 1.65 | -$36.06 million | $0.05 | 97.40 |
| Aramark | $18.51 billion | 0.57 | $326.39 million | $1.19 | 33.56 |
Aramark has higher revenue and earnings than Acacia Research. Aramark is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acacia Research, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Acacia Research has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aramark has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Aramark beats Acacia Research on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Aramark
Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services. It also provides on-site restaurants, catering, convenience stores, and executive dining services; beverage and vending services; and facility management services comprising landscaping, transportation, capital program management, payment services, and other facility consulting services relating to building operations. In addition, the company offers concessions, banquet, and catering services; retail services and merchandise sale, recreational, and lodging services; and facility management services at sports, entertainment, and recreational facilities. Further, it offers correctional food; and operates commissaries, laundry facilities, and property rooms. It primarily serves business and industry, sports, leisure and corrections, education, healthcare, public institutions, manufacturing, transportation, service, and other industries. The company was formerly known as ARAMARK Holdings Corporation. Aramark was founded in 1959 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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