Financial Contrast: Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC) vs. ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN)

ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) and Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.0% of ManpowerGroup shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.9% of Franklin Covey shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of ManpowerGroup shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Franklin Covey shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for ManpowerGroup and Franklin Covey, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ManpowerGroup	0	6	3	0	2.33
Franklin Covey	1	1	2	0	2.25

ManpowerGroup currently has a consensus price target of $53.50, suggesting a potential downside of 5.16%. Franklin Covey has a consensus price target of $27.50, suggesting a potential upside of 52.66%. Given Franklin Covey’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Franklin Covey is more favorable than ManpowerGroup.

Profitability

This table compares ManpowerGroup and Franklin Covey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ManpowerGroup	0.56%	7.45%	1.79%
Franklin Covey	0.83%	17.37%	4.04%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ManpowerGroup and Franklin Covey”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ManpowerGroup	$17.96 billion	0.15	-$13.30 million	$2.20	25.64
Franklin Covey	$262.75 million	0.77	$3.07 million	$0.17	105.96

Franklin Covey has lower revenue, but higher earnings than ManpowerGroup. ManpowerGroup is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Franklin Covey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

ManpowerGroup has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Covey has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Franklin Covey beats ManpowerGroup on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup Inc. provides workforce solutions and services worldwide. The company offers recruitment services, including permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment of professionals, as well as administrative and industrial positions under the Manpower and Experis brands. It also offers various assessment services; training and development services; career and talent management; and outsourcing services related to human resources functions primarily in the areas of large-scale recruiting and workforce-intensive initiatives. In addition, the company provides workforce consulting services; contingent staffing and permanent recruitment services; professional resourcing and project-based services; and recruitment process outsourcing, TAPFIN managed, and talent solutions. The company was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Franklin Covey

Franklin Covey Co. provides training and consulting services in the areas of execution, sales performance, productivity, customer loyalty, and educational improvement for organizations and individuals worldwide. The company operates through Direct Offices, International Licensees, and Education Practice segments. It also provides a suite of individual-effectiveness and leadership-development training and products. In addition, the company operates Strive platform, a learning deployment platform; Impact platform that helps automate implementation of learning initiatives; All Access Pass, a subscription platform that enables improved deployment of content, services, technology, and metrics to deliver behavioral impact at scale; and Leader in Me, which provides access to digital versions of student leadership guides, leadership lessons, illustrated leadership stories, and other resources. Franklin Covey Co. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.