CorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL) vs. Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Critical Comparison

CorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL) and Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for CorVel and Willdan Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CorVel	1	0	0	0	1.00
Willdan Group	0	2	2	0	2.50

Willdan Group has a consensus target price of $112.67, indicating a potential upside of 36.91%. Given Willdan Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Willdan Group is more favorable than CorVel.

Profitability

This table compares CorVel and Willdan Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CorVel	11.51%	29.92%	17.68%
Willdan Group	8.24%	23.36%	13.28%

Risk & Volatility

CorVel has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Willdan Group has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

51.4% of CorVel shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.3% of Willdan Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.6% of CorVel shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Willdan Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CorVel and Willdan Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CorVel	$958.53 million	3.16	$110.34 million	$2.14	27.89
Willdan Group	$681.55 million	1.82	$52.56 million	$3.71	22.18

CorVel has higher revenue and earnings than Willdan Group. Willdan Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CorVel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

CorVel beats Willdan Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CorVel

CorVel Corporation provides workers’ compensation, auto, liability, and health solutions. It applies technology, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to enhance the managing of episodes of care and the related health care costs. The company also offers network solutions services, including automated medical fee auditing, preferred provider management and reimbursement, retrospective utilization review, facility claim review, professional review, pharmacy, directed care, clearinghouse, independent medical examination, and inpatient medical bill review services, as well as Medicare solutions. In addition, it provides a range of patient management services, such as claims management, case management, 24/7 nurse triage, utilization management, vocational rehabilitation, and life care planning, as well as processing of claims for self-insured payors with respect to property and casualty insurance. The company offers solutions to employers, third party administrators, insurance companies, and government agencies to assist them in managing the medical costs and monitoring the quality of care associated with healthcare claims. CorVel Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services. The Engineering and Consulting segment provides building and safety, city engineering and code enforcement, development plan review and inspection, disaster recovery, geotechnical and earthquake engineering, planning and surveying, contract staff support, program and construction management, structural engineering, transportation and traffic engineering, and water resources services. This segment also offers district administration, financial consulting, and federal compliance services. It serves public and governmental agencies, including cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, water districts, school districts, and universities; investor and municipal owned energy utilities; state and federal agencies; and commercial and industrial firms, as well as various other special districts and agencies. The company was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California.