Critical Contrast: BrightView (NYSE:BV) and IBEX (NASDAQ:IBEX)

IBEX (NASDAQ:IBEX) and BrightView (NYSE:BV) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

IBEX has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BrightView has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares IBEX and BrightView”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IBEX	$558.27 million	0.69	$36.86 million	$3.04	9.45
BrightView	$2.67 billion	0.41	$56.00 million	($0.02)	-586.35

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

Profitability

This table compares IBEX and BrightView’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%
BrightView	1.90%	7.85%	2.98%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for IBEX and BrightView, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IBEX	0	3	0	0	2.00
BrightView	3	2	2	2	2.33

IBEX presently has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.78%. BrightView has a consensus target price of $14.68, suggesting a potential upside of 25.21%. Given BrightView’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BrightView is more favorable than IBEX.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.2% of IBEX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of BrightView shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of IBEX shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of BrightView shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

BrightView beats IBEX on 8 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 BrightView

BrightView Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Maintenance Services and Development Services. The Maintenance Services segment delivers a suite of recurring commercial landscaping services, including mowing, gardening, mulching and snow removal, water management, irrigation maintenance, tree care, golf course maintenance, and specialty turf maintenance. Its customers' properties include corporate and commercial properties, homeowners associations, public parks, hotels and resorts, airport authorities, municipalities, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, educational institutions, restaurants and retail, and golf courses. This segment's customer base includes approximately 8,800 office parks and corporate campuses 7,100 residential communities, and 550 educational institutions. The Development Services segment offers landscape architecture and development services for new facilities and redesign projects. Its services include project design and management services, landscape architecture and installation, irrigation installation, tree moving and installation, pool and water features, sports field, and other services. BrightView Holdings, Inc. also operates as official field consultant to various league baseball. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.