Financial Analysis: Maximus (NYSE:MMS) vs. Research Solutions (NASDAQ:RSSS)

Research Solutions (NASDAQ:RSSS) and Maximus (NYSE:MMS) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.6% of Research Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of Maximus shares are held by institutional investors. 12.9% of Research Solutions shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Maximus shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Research Solutions and Maximus”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Research Solutions	$44.62 million	2.40	-$3.79 million	($0.15)	-21.87
Maximus	$5.31 billion	0.73	$306.91 million	$4.65	14.70

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

Volatility & Risk

Research Solutions has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Maximus has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Research Solutions and Maximus, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Research Solutions	0	0	2	0	3.00
Maximus	0	0	1	0	3.00

Research Solutions presently has a consensus target price of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 67.68%. Maximus has a consensus target price of $90.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.70%. Given Research Solutions’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Research Solutions is more favorable than Maximus.

Profitability

This table compares Research Solutions and Maximus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Research Solutions	-8.41%	-6.37%	-1.98%
Maximus	5.28%	21.95%	9.60%

Summary

Maximus beats Research Solutions on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Research Solutions

Research Solutions, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides research cloud-based software-as-a-service software platform and related services to corporate, academic, government and individual researchers in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It provides Discover platform that facilitates search discovery across virtually all scientific, technical, and medical (STM) articles available, including free basic search solutions and advanced search tools, which include the Resolute.ai and scite.ai products, a tools that allows for searching and identifying relevant research and find insights in other datasets adjacent to STM content, such as clinical trial, patent, life science and medtech regulatory information, competitor and technology landscape insights in addition to searching the customer’s internal datasets. The company also offers Article Galaxy, a solution that allows research organizations to load their entitlements, consisting of subscriptions, discount or token packages, and their existing library of articles. In addition, it provides Manage platform, a references solution that allows users to access the article inside the platform including setting up personal folders or team folders and allows researchers to markup and take notes on the articles in a supported browser on a desktop or tablet. Further, the company’s platform facilitates the sale of published STM content sold as individual articles. The company was formerly known as Derycz Scientific, Inc. and changed its name to Research Solutions, Inc. in March 2013. Research Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Henderson, Nevada.

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.