Reviewing Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) & Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH)

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) and Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Jacobs Solutions has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Booz Allen Hamilton has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Jacobs Solutions and Booz Allen Hamilton’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jacobs Solutions	2.40%	23.96%	7.02%
Booz Allen Hamilton	7.01%	76.71%	11.48%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.7% of Jacobs Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Jacobs Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Jacobs Solutions and Booz Allen Hamilton”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jacobs Solutions	$12.03 billion	1.45	$289.34 million	$2.82	52.39
Booz Allen Hamilton	$11.22 billion	0.82	$851.00 million	$6.36	11.99

Booz Allen Hamilton has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Jacobs Solutions. Booz Allen Hamilton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jacobs Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Jacobs Solutions and Booz Allen Hamilton, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jacobs Solutions	0	6	6	0	2.50
Booz Allen Hamilton	4	8	3	0	1.93

Jacobs Solutions presently has a consensus target price of $153.70, indicating a potential upside of 4.04%. Booz Allen Hamilton has a consensus target price of $84.08, indicating a potential upside of 10.22%. Given Booz Allen Hamilton’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Booz Allen Hamilton is more favorable than Jacobs Solutions.

Dividends

Jacobs Solutions pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booz Allen Hamilton pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Jacobs Solutions pays out 51.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Booz Allen Hamilton pays out 37.1% 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. Jacobs Solutions has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Booz Allen Hamilton has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Booz Allen Hamilton is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Booz Allen Hamilton beats Jacobs Solutions on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jacobs Solutions

Jacobs Solutions Inc. provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments. The company offers cyber, data analytics, systems and software application integration and consulting, enterprise level and mission IT, design, nuclear, and enterprise level operations and maintenance services; software development, testing, mission integration, program management, research, development, test, evaluation services, training, and environmental remediation services; and other technical consulting solutions, as well as construction and construction management services. It also provides consulting services for consumer and manufacturing, defense and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government, health and life sciences, and transport industries. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing. The company offers artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer network related operations. In addition, it provides data science, engineering, visualization, and analysis related capabilities. Further, the company engages in user experience, user interface, graphic and web design, design thinking, sketching, and digital product design capabilities. Additionally, it architects and engineers help accelerate, scale, secure, and transform mission and business outcomes using the technologies and partner offering; offers software engineering in agile practices, DevSecOps, automation and Cloud, and Low/No Code Platform engineering; systems and digital engineering; and tech strategy and product management. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.