Analyzing Maximus (NYSE:MMS) and ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS)

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

Volatility and Risk

Maximus has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ExlService has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Maximus and ExlService, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Maximus	1	1	0	0	1.50
ExlService	0	1	6	0	2.86

ExlService has a consensus price target of $44.50, suggesting a potential upside of 24.48%. Given ExlService’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ExlService is more favorable than Maximus.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Maximus and ExlService”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Maximus	$5.43 billion	0.51	$319.03 million	$6.77	7.79
ExlService	$2.09 billion	2.60	$251.02 million	$1.59	22.48

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.2% of Maximus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of ExlService shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Maximus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of ExlService shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Maximus and ExlService’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%
ExlService	11.17%	30.61%	15.66%

Summary

ExlService beats Maximus on 10 of the 14 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 ExlService

ExlService Holdings, Inc. operates as a data analytics, and digital operations and solutions company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Insurance, Healthcare, Analytics, and Emerging Business segments. It also provides digital operations and solutions and analytics-driven services, such as claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business acquisition, policy servicing, premium audit, surveys, billing and collection, commercial and residential survey, and customer service using digital technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced automation; digital customer acquisition services using a software-as-a-service delivery model through LifePRO and LISS platforms; subrogation services; and Subrosource software platform, an end-to-end subrogation platform. In addition, the company offers health care services related to care management, utilization management, disease management, payment integrity, revenue optimization, and customer engagement. Further, it provides financial planning and analysis, management reporting, forecasting and decision support, data management, regulatory reporting and risk, and compliance services; reservations, customer, and fulfilment services; freight billing, collections, claims management, freight audit, freight scheduling, supply chain management, and revenue assurance services; residential mortgage lending, title verification and validation, retail banking and credit cards, trust verification, commercial banking, and investment management; merchandising, pricing, and demand forecasting; and digital operations and solutions. The company offers predictive and prescriptive analytics in the areas of customer acquisition and lifecycle management. ExlService Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.