BBSI vs MAN vs KFRC Stock Comparison

Barrett Business Services, ManpowerGroup and Kforce Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MAN ManpowerGroup Inc.
$47.56 -17.1% 1M +41.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.17B
P/E
20.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.72B
Div. yield
–
Staffing Industrials
4 wins
KFRC Kforce Inc
$58.50 +12.3% 1M +112.3% 1Y
Market cap
$981.81M
P/E
26.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.34B
Div. yield
0.03%
Staffing Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

ManpowerGroup leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (ManpowerGroup 4, Barrett Business Services 4, Kforce 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBBSIMANKFRCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $812.25M $2.17B $981.81M MAN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.2x 20.8x 26.9x MAN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.7x 12.9x 23.7x MAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.6% +6.7% -1.3% MAN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.8% 0.6% 2.7% BBSI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 4.2% 17.6% KFRC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.3x 1.8x KFRC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -20.3% +41.4% +112.3% KFRC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.3%/yr -14.1%/yr -2.1%/yr BBSI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.5% 60.5% 60.8% BBSI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 49/100 38/100 BBSI

Percentile Scorecard

BBSIMANKFRC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBBSIMANKFRC
Valuation 57 #49 of 112 87 #16 of 112 41 #66 of 112
Growth 37 #61 of 96 47 #51 of 96 16 #81 of 96
Profitability 44 #53 of 93 35 #61 of 93 55 #42 of 93
Financial Health 55 #57 of 126 40 #76 of 126 50 #63 of 126
Shareholder Returns 62 #26 of 67 35 #44 of 67 27 #49 of 67
Overall 51 49 38
  • BBSI ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • MAN ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • KFRC ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBBSIMANKFRCSPY
1 month +1.9%-17.1%+12.3% -1.0%
3 months -16.4%-7.4%+6.2% +2.9%
6 months +9.0%+61.4%+80.5% +6.4%
Year to date -8.3%+60.0%+89.2% +11.4%
1 year -20.3%+41.4%+112.3% +13.1%
3 years +51.3%-31.2%+3.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +14.8%-11.7%+1.0% +21.5%
5 years +63.0%-53.3%-10.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.3%-14.1%-2.1% +10.9%
10 years +195.3%-40.5%+200.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +11.4%-5.1%+11.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBBSIMANKFRCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.5%60.5%60.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.0%55.3%42.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.20-0.07-0.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.480.681.85 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.4%-77.7%-69.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.9%-24.4%-3.2% -2.5%
52-week high $42.00$62.92$60.41 $779.14
52-week low $26.83$25.75$24.54 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBBSIMANKFRC
P/E now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 21.0x 21.4xmedian 21.0x 26.9xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 0.9x 0.1xmedian 0.9x 0.8xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.0xmedian 12.3x 8.3xmedian 12.3x 19.4xmedian 12.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 51.5xmedian 15.1x 32.1xmedian 15.1x 46.4xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 2.4x 1.1xmedian 2.4x 8.5xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -3.93median 1.02 -0.76median 1.02 -2.06median 1.02

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBBSIMANKFRC
Revenue $1.27B $18.72B $1.34B
Gross profit $253.07M $3.04B $371.99M
Operating income $52.24M $287.50M $54.32M
Net income $35.08M $104.20M $36.48M
Free cash flow $15.52M $68.90M $22.56M
EPS (diluted) $1.42 $2.20 $2.15
Cash & equivalents $27.04M $180.60M $330.00K
Total debt – $4.69B $330.00M
Shares (diluted) 24.71M 47.40M 16.98M
Enterprise value $385.55M $616.62M $976.75M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBBSIMANKFRC
P/E 23.1x 21.4x 26.9x
P/FCF 51.5x 32.1x 46.4x
P/Operating cash flow 21.8x 20.2x 28.9x
P/S 0.6x 0.1x 0.8x
P/B 3.9x 1.1x 8.5x
P/Tangible book 3.9x 1.3x 8.5x
EV/EBITDA 12.0x 8.3x 19.4x
EV/EBIT 14.0x 10.7x 21.3x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 0.2x 0.9x
EV/FCF 47.1x 44.6x 51.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.0x 28.0x 31.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.93 -0.76 -2.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBBSIMANKFRC
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.6% 6.7% -1.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% -0.9% -6.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.3% 1.3% 0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.3% -4.4% -7.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -17.0% 102.6% -10.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% -16.2% -19.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -34.9% 743.2% -16.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -9.2% -29.9% -17.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -30.9% 731.0% -13.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.9% -28.3% -13.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 854.5% 1,038% -49.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.5% -33.4% -15.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 234.5% 197.9% -62.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.5% -38.9% -23.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBBSIMANKFRC
Gross margin 20.0% 16.2% 27.7%
EBITDA margin 4.8% 2.0% 4.4%
Operating margin 4.1% 1.5% 4.0%
Pretax margin 4.8% 1.2% 3.8%
Net margin 2.8% 0.6% 2.7%
FCF margin 1.2% 0.4% 1.7%
Operating cash flow margin 2.9% 0.6% 2.7%
Return on equity 17.1% 5.0% 30.3%
Return on assets 4.7% 1.2% 9.2%
Return on invested capital – 4.2% 17.6%
Return on capital employed 15.4% 8.3% 19.6%
Asset turnover 1.7x 2.2x 3.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.1x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.1% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBBSIMANKFRC
Debt / assets – 12.5% 26.1%
Debt / equity – 0.5x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.3x 1.8x
Debt / FCF – 15.1x 4.7x
Liabilities / assets 71.4% 74.8% 69.9%
Equity / assets 28.6% 25.2% 30.1%
Interest coverage 312.8x 5.0x –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.0x 1.9x
Quick ratio 1.6x 1.0x 1.8x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 3.40 3.22 8.14

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBBSIMANKFRC
Dividend yield 1.0% 3.0% 2.7%
Net buyback yield 7.2% 0.0% 3.2%
Shareholder yield 8.1% 3.0% 5.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 74.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 120.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -3.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 1.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBBSIMANKFRC
Forward P/E 23.7xFY2026 12.9xFY2026 23.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.40FY2026 $3.68FY2026 $2.47FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -32.7%FY2026 +23.9%FY2026 +18.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +37.9% +23.4% +17.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.34BFY2026 $19.58BFY2026 $1.32BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.0%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026 -1.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.8% +4.5% +5.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBBSIMANKFRC
Held by institutions 88.6% 100.0% 95.7%
Institutions holding 198 308 233
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.1% +4.8% +1.8%
Institutions buying 111 179 136
Institutions selling 55 94 71
Buyers to sellers 2.02 1.90 1.92

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BBSIMANKFRC
BBSI 1.00 0.34 0.35
MAN 0.34 1.00 0.51
KFRC 0.35 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BBSI, MAN and KFRC?

ManpowerGroup (MAN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) $812.25M, ManpowerGroup (MAN) $2.17B, Kforce (KFRC) $981.81M.

Which stock is cheaper, BBSI, MAN and KFRC?

ManpowerGroup (MAN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 23.2x, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 20.8x, Kforce (KFRC) 26.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, ManpowerGroup (MAN) is cheapest (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 23.7x, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 12.9x, Kforce (KFRC) 23.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

ManpowerGroup (MAN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +5.6%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) +6.7%, Kforce (KFRC) -1.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Barrett Business Services (BBSI) has the highest net margin (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 2.8%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 0.6%, Kforce (KFRC) 2.7%). On return on invested capital, Kforce (KFRC) leads (ManpowerGroup (MAN) 4.2%, Kforce (KFRC) 17.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kforce (KFRC) returned the most: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) -20.3%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) +41.4%, Kforce (KFRC) +112.3%. Over five years, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) compounded fastest (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +10.3%/yr, ManpowerGroup (MAN) -14.1%/yr, Kforce (KFRC) -2.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 0.00%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 0.00%, Kforce (KFRC) 0.03%. Barrett Business Services (BBSI) and ManpowerGroup (MAN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) has been the steadiest (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 42.5%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 60.5%, Kforce (KFRC) 60.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BBSI, MAN and KFRC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, ManpowerGroup (MAN) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.