HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI – Get Free Report) and Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK – Get Free Report) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
12.0% of HireQuest shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Upwork shares are held by institutional investors. 42.9% of HireQuest shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.9% of Upwork shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
HireQuest has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Upwork has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| HireQuest | 27.06% | 16.35% | 12.11% |
| Upwork | 12.94% | 16.70% | 7.94% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for HireQuest and Upwork, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| HireQuest | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
| Upwork | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2.15 |
HireQuest presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.95%. Upwork has a consensus price target of $13.05, indicating a potential upside of 44.28%. Given Upwork’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Upwork is more favorable than HireQuest.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares HireQuest and Upwork”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| HireQuest | $30.15 million | 7.89 | $6.33 million | $0.57 | 30.04 |
| Upwork | $787.28 million | 1.43 | $115.43 million | $0.77 | 11.75 |
Upwork has higher revenue and earnings than HireQuest. Upwork is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HireQuest, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
About HireQuest
HireQuest, Inc. provides temporary staffing services in the United States. It offers staffing services, including direct-dispatch, executive search, consultant, unskilled and semi-skilled industrial and construction personnel, clerical and administrative personnel, and permanent placement services, as well as commercial and non-CDL drivers, and skilled personnel in the medical and dental industries. The company provides its services under the HireQuest Direct, HireQuest, SNelling, DriverQuest, HireQuest Health, Northbound Executive Search, and MRI trade names. It serves construction, recycling, warehousing, logistics, auctioneering, manufacturing, hospitality, landscaping, and retail industries, as well as dental practices. HireQuest, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Goose Creek, South Carolina.
About Upwork
Upwork Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company’s work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development. Its work marketplace also enables clients to streamline workflows, such as talent sourcing, outreach, and contracting. The company’s work marketplace offers access to various functionalities for remote engagements with talent, including communication and collaboration, ability to receive talent invoices through their work marketplace, and payment protection. Its marketplace offerings include Upwork Payroll and Upwork Enterprise, as well as managed and escrow services. The company was formerly known as Elance-oDesk, Inc. and changed its name to Upwork Inc. in May 2015. Upwork Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Receive News & Ratings for HireQuest Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HireQuest and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
