Contrasting ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) and CISO Global (NASDAQ:CISO)

ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) and CISO Global (NASDAQ:CISO) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for ICF International and CISO Global, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICF International	0	1	3	0	2.75
CISO Global	0	0	1	0	3.00

ICF International currently has a consensus target price of $162.75, suggesting a potential upside of 15.89%. Given ICF International’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe ICF International is more favorable than CISO Global.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ICF International and CISO Global’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICF International	$1.96 billion	1.34	$82.61 million	$4.92	28.54
CISO Global	$55.17 million	0.15	-$80.23 million	N/A	N/A

ICF International has higher revenue and earnings than CISO Global.

Profitability

This table compares ICF International and CISO Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICF International	4.74%	14.42%	6.33%
CISO Global	-94.26%	-253.61%	-95.24%

Risk and Volatility

ICF International has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CISO Global has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.1% of ICF International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.1% of CISO Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of ICF International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 42.8% of CISO Global shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ICF International beats CISO Global on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ICF International

ICF International, Inc. provides management, technology, and policy consulting and implementation services to government and commercial clients in the United States and internationally. The company researches critical policy, industry, stakeholder issues, trends, and behaviors; measures and evaluates results and their impact; and provides strategic planning and advisory services to its clients on how to navigate societal, business, market, business, communication, and technology challenges. It also identifies, defines, and implements policies, plans, programs, and business tools through a range of standard and customized methodologies for its clients' business context; conducts survey research; collects and analyzes various data to understand critical issues and options for its clients; and provides actionable business intelligence, as well as information and data management solutions that allow integrated and purpose-driven data usage. In addition, the company provides solutions to optimize the customer and citizen experience; modernizes IT systems; and cyber security solutions that support the range of cyber security missions and protect IT infrastructures in the face of relentless threats, as well as designs, develops, and implements technology systems and business tools that are key to its clients' mission or business performance. Further, it informs and engages its clients' constituents, customers, and employees through public relations, branding and marketing, multichannel and strategic communications, and reputation issues management. The company serves energy, environment, infrastructure, and disaster recovery; health and social programs; and security and other civilian and commercial markets. The company was formerly known as ICF Consulting Group Holdings, LLC and changed its name to ICF International, Inc. in 2006. ICF International, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About CISO Global

CISO Global Inc. operates as a cybersecurity and compliance company in the United States, Chile, and internationally. The company offers security managed services, including compliance, secured managed, and cyber defense operation services; culture education and enablement; tools and technology provisioning; data, privacy, regulations, and compliance monitoring; remote infrastructure administration; and antivirus and patch management services. It also provides cybersecurity professional services, such as incident response and digital forensics; security testing and training; cybersecurity consulting; compliance auditing; vulnerability assessment and penetration testing; and disaster recovery and data backup solutions. The company was formerly known as Cerberus Cyber Sentinel Corporation and changed its name to CISO Global Inc. in May 2023. CISO Global Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.