Head-To-Head Comparison: Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) versus Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC)

Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Quest Resource and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quest Resource	1	2	0	0	1.67
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	0	5	4	0	2.44

Quest Resource presently has a consensus target price of $2.25, suggesting a potential upside of 97.37%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a consensus target price of $51.63, suggesting a potential upside of 16.30%. Given Quest Resource’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Quest Resource is more favorable than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Quest Resource and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quest Resource	$250.22 million	0.10	-$15.38 million	($0.73)	-1.56
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	$1.70 billion	4.39	$198.00 million	$1.15	38.60

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has higher revenue and earnings than Quest Resource. Quest Resource is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

48.2% of Quest Resource shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are held by institutional investors. 22.9% of Quest Resource shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Quest Resource and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quest Resource	-6.15%	-14.18%	-3.92%
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	11.68%	16.54%	9.82%

Volatility & Risk

Quest Resource has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor beats Quest Resource on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quest Resource

Quest Resource Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for the reuse, recycling, and disposal of various waste streams and recyclables in the United States. The company provides disposal and recycling services for motor oil and automotive lubricants, oil filters, scrap tires, oily water, goods destruction, food waste, meat renderings, cooking oil and grease trap waste, plastics, cardboard, metal, glass, mixed paper, construction debris, as well as a large variety of regulated and non-regulated solid, liquid, and gas wastes. It offers antifreeze and windshield washer fluid, dumpster and compacting equipment, and other minor ancillary services. In addition, the company offers landfill diversion services. Its services focus on the waste streams and recyclables from big box, grocers, and other retailers; automotive maintenance, quick lube, dealerships, and collision repair; transportation, logistics, and internal fleet operators; manufacturing plants; multi-family and commercial properties; restaurant chains and food operations; and construction and demolition projects. The company markets its services to automotive, manufacturing, hospitality and retail, construction and demolition, and commercial and multi-family property management industries through direct sales force and strategic partnerships. The company was formerly known as Infinity Resources Holdings Corp. and changed its name to Quest Resource Holding Corporation in October 2013. Quest Resource Holding Corporation is headquartered in The Colony, Texas.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names. The company also provides flow systems products comprising point drains, hydrants, fixture carrier systems, chemical drainage systems; and interceptors and separators, acid neutralization systems, and remote monitoring systems under the Zurn and Green Turtle brands. In addition, it develops, manufactures, and markets remote tank monitoring devices, alarms, software, and services. Further, the company offers sensor-operated flush valves under the AquaSense, Aquaflush, and AquaVantage brands; heavy-duty commercial faucets under the AquaSpec brand; water conserving fixtures under the EcoVantage and Zurn One brands; stainless steel products under the Just Manufacturing brand name, which include stainless steel sinks and plumbing fixtures, and various types of sinks, as well as drinking water dispensing and filtration products under the Elkay and Halsey Taylor brands. It distributes to institutional, commercial, waterworks, and residential end markets through independent sales representatives, plumbing wholesalers, and industry-specific distributors in the waterworks, foodservice, industrial, janitorial, sanitation, and sitework industries. The company was formerly known as Zurn Water Solutions Corporation and changed its name to Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation in July 2022. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.