Reviewing Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) and Element Fleet Management (OTCMKTS:ELEEF)

Element Fleet Management (OTCMKTS:ELEEF) and Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Dividends

Element Fleet Management pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Tetra Tech pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Element Fleet Management pays out 56.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Tetra Tech pays out 17.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Tetra Tech has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Element Fleet Management and Tetra Tech”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Element Fleet Management	$1.19 billion	5.88	$279.13 million	$0.74	24.05
Tetra Tech	$5.44 billion	1.69	$247.72 million	$1.66	21.66

Element Fleet Management has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Tetra Tech. Tetra Tech is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Element Fleet Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Element Fleet Management and Tetra Tech, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Element Fleet Management	0	0	2	1	3.33
Tetra Tech	0	2	3	0	2.60

Tetra Tech has a consensus price target of $38.25, indicating a potential upside of 6.37%. Given Tetra Tech’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Tetra Tech is more favorable than Element Fleet Management.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Element Fleet Management and Tetra Tech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Element Fleet Management	23.33%	24.75%	3.91%
Tetra Tech	8.60%	22.32%	9.47%

Summary

Tetra Tech beats Element Fleet Management on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Element Fleet Management

Element Fleet Management Corp. operates as a fleet management company primarily in Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. The company offers end-to-end fleet cars, trucks, and material handling support equipment acquisition; and end-to-end electric vehicle fleet including fleet planning, charging infrastructure solutions, acquisition, financing, maintenance, and remarketing. It provides commercial fleet financing comprising operating and capital lease, sale and leaseback funding, loans, rental fleet financing, client owned acquisition program, and fair market value lease for fleet cars, trucks, and equipment; and vehicle licensing and registration services, such as renewal, fleet title management, and insurance card management services. In addition, the company provides collision management services, such as 24/7 driver assistance, collision evaluation, repair management, and subrogation; fleet management outsourcing solutions; fuel, maintenance, and safety solutions; telematics and fleet connectivity solutions; and toll and violation management, as well as fleet remarketing, sale leaseback, and strategic fleet management consulting services. It serves construction, energy, oil and gas, food and beverages, healthcare, services, and transport sectors. Element Fleet Management Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech, Inc. provides consulting and engineering services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Government Services Group (GSG) and Commercial/International Services Group (CIG). The GSG segment offers early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and climate change and energy management consulting, as well as greenhouse gas inventory assessment, certification, reduction, and management services. This segment serves federal, state, and local governments; and development agencies in water resources analysis and water management, environmental monitoring, data analytics, government consulting, waste management, and a range of civil infrastructure master planning and engineering design markets. The CIG segment provides early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, feasibility studies and assessments, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and environmental remediation and reconstruction services, and industrial water treatment services. This segment serves natural resources, energy, and utilities markets, as well as sustainable infrastructure master planning and engineering design for facilities, transportation, and local development projects. Tetra Tech, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.