Financial Comparison: Korn/Ferry International (KFY) & Its Competitors

Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) is one of 203 publicly-traded companies in the “Professional Services” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Korn/Ferry International to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Korn/Ferry International and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Korn/Ferry International	1	1	4	0	2.50
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	1593	6489	9187	433	2.48

Korn/Ferry International currently has a consensus price target of $80.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.52%. As a group, “Professional Services” companies have a potential upside of 28.06%. Given Korn/Ferry International’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Korn/Ferry International has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Korn/Ferry International and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Korn/Ferry International	$2.94 billion	$277.43 million	14.35
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	$3.29 billion	$228.38 million	37.01

Korn/Ferry International’s rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Korn/Ferry International. Korn/Ferry International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Korn/Ferry International and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Korn/Ferry International	9.36%	14.43%	7.36%
Korn/Ferry International Competitors	-0.13%	35.53%	4.39%

Dividends

Korn/Ferry International pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Korn/Ferry International pays out 41.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Professional Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.5% and pay out -163.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Korn/Ferry International has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Korn/Ferry International has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Korn/Ferry International’s rivals have a beta of 0.96, suggesting that their average share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.8% of Korn/Ferry International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.3% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Korn/Ferry International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.2% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Korn/Ferry International beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Korn/Ferry International Company Profile

Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm that helps companies align their business strategies with their talent and organizational capabilities. Founded in 1969 as an executive-search firm, it has expanded into a broader provider of talent and leadership services. The company’s offerings include executive and professional search, recruitment process outsourcing, leadership assessment and development, succession planning, and organizational and compensation consulting. It also provides digital tools and advisory services to support workforce planning and talent management.