Critical Survey: Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) and Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI)

Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) and Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Quest Resource and Pitney Bowes, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quest Resource	1	1	0	0	1.50
Pitney Bowes	0	3	3	1	2.71

Pitney Bowes has a consensus target price of $18.45, suggesting a potential upside of 6.37%. Given Pitney Bowes’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Pitney Bowes is more favorable than Quest Resource.

Profitability

This table compares Quest Resource and Pitney Bowes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quest Resource	-7.07%	-14.75%	-3.78%
Pitney Bowes	10.04%	-31.37%	8.02%

Volatility and Risk

Quest Resource has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pitney Bowes has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Quest Resource and Pitney Bowes”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quest Resource	$248.05 million	0.12	-$15.38 million	($0.82)	-1.76
Pitney Bowes	$1.89 billion	1.26	$144.70 million	$1.22	14.22

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

48.2% of Quest Resource shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.9% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.6% of Quest Resource shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Pitney Bowes beats Quest Resource on 13 of the 15 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 Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc., a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments. The Global Ecommerce segment provides domestic parcel services, cross-border solutions, and digital delivery services. The Presort Services segment offers mail sortation services, which allow clients to qualify volumes of first-class mail, marketing mail, marketing mail flats, and bound printed matter for postal work sharing discounts. The SendTech Solutions segment provides physical and digital mailing and shipping technology solutions, and other applications for sending, tracking and receiving of letters, parcels, and flats as well as financing alternatives to finance equipment and product purchases. It markets its products, solutions, and services through direct and inside sales force, global and regional partner channels, direct mailings, and digital channels. The company was formerly known as Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company. Pitney Bowes Inc. was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.