KFRC vs BBSI vs MAN Stock Comparison

Kforce, Barrett Business Services and ManpowerGroup Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KFRC Kforce Inc
$57.04 +10.8% 1M +105.8% 1Y
Market cap
$1.02B
P/E
23.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.37B
Div. yield
2.79%
Staffing Industrials
1 win
MAN ManpowerGroup Inc.
$45.78 -20.3% 1M +39.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.13B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.92B
Div. yield
3.15%
Staffing Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

ManpowerGroup leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (ManpowerGroup 5, Barrett Business Services 3, Kforce 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKFRCBBSIMANLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.02B $784.06M $2.13B MAN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.4x 22.6x 25.5x BBSI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 23.3x 12.4x MAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.1% +5.6% +7.3% MAN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 2.8% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.79% 0.98% 3.15% MAN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +105.8% -21.6% +39.4% KFRC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.4%/yr +9.7%/yr -14.2%/yr BBSI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 60.9% 42.6% 60.6% BBSI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 51/100 57/100 MAN

Percentile Scorecard

KFRCBBSIMAN

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

AxisKFRCBBSIMAN
Valuation 41 #67 of 112 60 #46 of 112 77 #27 of 112
Growth 19 #78 of 96 36 #62 of 96 47 #51 of 96
Profitability – 43 #52 of 91 49 #47 of 91
Financial Health 50 #63 of 125 55 #57 of 125 –
Shareholder Returns 46 #37 of 67 61 #27 of 67 55 #31 of 67
Overall 39 51 57
  • KFRC ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • BBSI ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • MAN ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKFRCBBSIMANSPY
1 month +10.8%+4.6%-20.3% -0.2%
3 months -2.5%-20.7%-17.4% +3.9%
6 months +24.4%+3.4%+46.6% +8.2%
Year to date +84.5%-10.1%+54.0% +12.9%
1 year +105.8%-21.6%+39.4% +12.3%
3 years +0.6%+47.9%-33.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +0.2%+13.9%-12.9% +23.3%
5 years -11.5%+58.9%-53.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -2.4%+9.7%-14.2% +10.9%
10 years +212.5%+197.2%-40.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +12.1%+11.5%-5.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureKFRCBBSIMANSPY
Volatility, 1Y 60.9%42.6%60.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.8%53.1%55.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.330.20-0.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.74-0.510.65 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -69.6%-45.4%-77.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.6%-21.6%-27.2% -1.2%
52-week high $60.41$41.53$62.92 $779.14
52-week low $24.54$26.83$25.75 $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.

MultipleKFRCBBSIMAN
P/E now vs peer median 23.4xmedian 21.2x 22.6xmedian 21.2x 25.5xmedian 21.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.9x 0.6xmedian 0.9x 0.1xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.9x 11.8xmedian 11.9x —median 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 41.2xmedian 13.7x 50.5xmedian 13.7x 38.2xmedian 13.7x
P/B now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 2.4x 3.8xmedian 2.4x 1.0xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -6.50median 1.00 -3.86median 1.00 —median 1.00

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 monthsKFRCBBSIMAN
Revenue $1.37B $1.27B $18.92B
Gross profit $380.57M $253.07M $3.04B
Operating income $61.83M $52.24M $303.20M
Net income – $35.08M $120.30M
Free cash flow – $15.52M –
EPS (diluted) $2.41 $1.42 –
Cash & equivalents $250.00K $27.04M $233.10M
Shares (diluted) 16.98M 24.71M 47.40M
Enterprise value $1.02B $357.36M $2.13B

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
MetricKFRCBBSIMAN
P/E 23.4x 22.6x 25.5x
P/FCF 41.2x 50.5x 38.2x
P/Operating cash flow 45.4x 21.4x 50.8x
P/S 0.7x 0.6x 0.1x
P/B 7.5x 3.8x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 7.5x 3.8x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA – 11.8x –
EV/EBIT – 13.7x –
EV/Revenue 0.7x 0.6x 0.1x
EV/FCF – 46.1x –
EV/Operating cash flow 45.4x 19.6x 50.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -6.50 -3.86 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKFRCBBSIMAN
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.1% 5.6% 7.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -4.8% 5.9% -0.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.6% -3.3% 1.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -5.2% 2.3% -3.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.3% -17.0% 120.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -11.5% -3.1% -8.5%
Net income growth (1Y) – -34.9% 672.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -9.2% -18.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 4.3% -30.9% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.6% -5.9% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -64.7% 854.5% 218.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -35.0% -4.5% -51.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 234.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -18.5% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKFRCBBSIMAN
Gross margin – 20.0% –
EBITDA margin – 4.8% –
Operating margin – 4.1% –
Pretax margin – 4.8% –
Net margin – 2.8% –
FCF margin – 1.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 1.6% 2.9% 0.2%
Return on equity – 17.1% 5.7%
Return on assets – 4.7% 1.4%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – 15.4% –
Asset turnover 3.3x 1.7x 2.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.0x 0.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKFRCBBSIMAN
Debt / assets – – –
Debt / equity – – –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 68.4% 71.4% –
Equity / assets 31.6% 28.6% 25.9%
Interest coverage – 312.8x –
Current ratio 2.0x 1.1x 1.1x
Quick ratio – 1.6x –
Cash ratio – 0.2x –
Altman Z-score – 3.38 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKFRCBBSIMAN
Dividend yield 2.8% 1.0% 3.1%
Net buyback yield – 7.3% –
Shareholder yield 2.8% 8.3% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusKFRCBBSIMAN
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2026 23.3xFY2026 12.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.57FY2026 $1.40FY2026 $3.68FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +23.0%FY2026 -32.7%FY2026 +23.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.5% +37.9% +23.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.33BFY2026 $1.34BFY2026 $19.58BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.3%FY2026 +8.0%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.7% +8.8% +4.5%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

KFRCBBSIMAN
KFRC 1.00 0.35 0.51
BBSI 0.35 1.00 0.34
MAN 0.51 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KFRC, BBSI and MAN?

ManpowerGroup (MAN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kforce (KFRC) $1.02B, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) $784.06M, ManpowerGroup (MAN) $2.13B.

Which stock is cheaper, KFRC, BBSI and MAN?

Barrett Business Services (BBSI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kforce (KFRC) 23.4x, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 22.6x, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, ManpowerGroup (MAN) is cheapest (Kforce (KFRC) 22.2x, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 23.3x, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 12.4x). 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: Kforce (KFRC) +2.1%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +5.6%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) +7.3%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kforce (KFRC) returned the most: Kforce (KFRC) +105.8%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) -21.6%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) +39.4%. Over five years, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) compounded fastest (Kforce (KFRC) -2.4%/yr, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +9.7%/yr, ManpowerGroup (MAN) -14.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

ManpowerGroup (MAN) has the highest dividend yield: Kforce (KFRC) 2.79%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 0.98%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 3.15%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) has been the steadiest (Kforce (KFRC) 60.9%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 42.6%, ManpowerGroup (MAN) 60.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.