Comparing Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) and UMC (OTCMKTS:UMCN)

UMC (OTCMKTS:UMCN) and Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares UMC 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
UMC	N/A	N/A	-$180,000.00	N/A	N/A
Willdan Group	$565.80 million	3.49	$22.57 million	$2.78	48.12

Willdan Group has higher revenue and earnings than UMC.

Volatility & Risk

UMC has a beta of 33.65, meaning that its share price is 3,265% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Willdan Group has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.3% of Willdan Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.8% of UMC shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Willdan Group 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UMC	-1,022.22%	N/A	N/A
Willdan Group	6.37%	20.23%	10.79%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for UMC and Willdan Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UMC	0	0	0	0	0.00
Willdan Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Willdan Group has a consensus price target of $124.33, indicating a potential downside of 7.06%. Given Willdan Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Willdan Group is more favorable than UMC.

Summary

Willdan Group beats UMC on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UMC

UMC, Inc. provides medical insurance claims coding and processing, electronic medical records storage, chargemaster review, pricing comparison, and accounts receivable management services to healthcare providers. Its customers primarily include hospitals, medical clinics, and physician practitioners in the United States. The company was formerly known as United Medicorp, Inc. and changed its name to UMC, Inc. in May 2007. UMC, Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Pampa, 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.