Critical Contrast: Maximus (NYSE:MMS) and KANZHUN (NASDAQ:BZ)

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) and KANZHUN (NASDAQ:BZ) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Maximus has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KANZHUN has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Maximus pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. KANZHUN pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Maximus pays out 19.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KANZHUN pays out 10.6% 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. Maximus has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Maximus is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Maximus and KANZHUN, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Maximus	1	1	0	0	1.50
KANZHUN	0	3	3	0	2.50

KANZHUN has a consensus price target of $19.33, indicating a potential upside of 14.81%. Given KANZHUN’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe KANZHUN is more favorable than Maximus.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Maximus and KANZHUN”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Maximus	$5.43 billion	0.56	$319.03 million	$6.77	8.62
KANZHUN	$1.18 billion	5.84	$391.15 million	$1.42	11.86

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

Profitability

This table compares Maximus and KANZHUN’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Maximus	7.07%	24.91%	10.08%
KANZHUN	53.16%	15.03%	12.02%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.2% of Maximus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of KANZHUN shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Maximus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of KANZHUN shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

KANZHUN beats Maximus on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Maximus

Maximus, Inc. operates as a provider of government services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Federal Services, U.S. Services, and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers program eligibility support and enrollment; centralized multilingual customer contact centers, multichannel, and digital self-service options for enrollment; application assistance and independent health plan choice counseling; beneficiary outreach, education, eligibility, enrollment, and redeterminations; and person-centered independent disability, long-term sick, and other health assessments. This segment also provides employment services, such as eligibility support, case management, job-readiness preparation, job search and employer outreach, job retention and career advancement, and educational and training services; technology solutions; system implementation project management services; and specialized consulting services. The U.S. Federal Services segment offers Business process services, eligibility and enrollment, outreach, and other services for federal health and human services programs; clinical services; and technology solutions, including application development and modernization services, enterprise business solutions, advanced analytics and emerging technologies, cybersecurity services, and infrastructure and engineering solutions. The Outside the U.S. segment offers BPS solutions for international governments, including health and disability assessments, program administration for employment services, wellbeing solutions, and other job seeker-related services. Maximus, Inc. was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

About KANZHUN

Kanzhun Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides online recruitment services in the People's Republic of China. The company offers its recruitment services through a mobile app under the BOSS Zhipin brand name. Its services allow enterprise customers to access and interact with job seekers and manage their recruitment process. The company also provides management consultancy and technical services. Kanzhun Limited was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.