Critical Contrast: Atlantic International (NASDAQ:ATLN) & TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI)

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) and Atlantic International (NASDAQ:ATLN) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares TrueBlue and Atlantic International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TrueBlue	$1.57 billion	0.11	-$14.17 million	($4.16)	-1.38
Atlantic International	$27.89 million	6.42	-$5.63 million	($8.24)	-0.43

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for TrueBlue and Atlantic International, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TrueBlue	0	0	2	0	3.00
Atlantic International	0	0	0	0	0.00

TrueBlue currently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 100.52%. Given TrueBlue’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TrueBlue is more favorable than Atlantic International.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.2% of TrueBlue shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of TrueBlue shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.3% of Atlantic International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

TrueBlue has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlantic International has a beta of 1.86, meaning that its share price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares TrueBlue and Atlantic International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TrueBlue	-8.02%	-3.90%	-1.87%
Atlantic International	N/A	-298.20%	-42.32%

Summary

TrueBlue beats Atlantic International on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TrueBlue

TrueBlue, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The company PeopleReady segment provides general, industrial, and skilled trade contingent staffing services for construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and renewable energy industries. The PeopleManagement segment offers contingent, on-site industrial staffing, and commercial driver services, which includes on-site management and recruitment for the contingent industrial workforce of manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution facilities; and recruitment and management of contingent and dedicated commercial drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Staff Management, SIMOS Insourcing Solutions, and Centerline Drivers brands. The company PeopleScout segment provides recruitment process outsourcing, talent advisory services, and managed service provider solutions including sourcing, screening, hiring, and onboarding services; operates Affinix, a technology platform for sourcing, screening, and delivering a permanent workforce to its clients; talent advisory services, such as employer branding, recruitment marketing, talent insights, diversity, equity and inclusion consulting, candidate assessment, and talent acquisition strategy consulting services; and contingent labor programs including vendor selection, performance management, compliance monitoring, and risk management. TrueBlue, Inc. was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

About Atlantic International

Atlantic International Corp. engages in the design, development, and manufacture of genetic analysis technologies. Its services include RNA sequencing and DNA sequencing. The company was founded by William C. St. Laurent and Daniel R. Jones in 2013 and is headquartered in Billercia, MA.