Analyzing Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) & Black Diamond Group (OTCMKTS:BDIMF)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyBlack Diamond Group (OTCMKTS:BDIMF – Get Free Report) and Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG – Get Free Report) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends and profitability.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
86.7% of Acacia Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Black Diamond Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Acacia Research shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings for Black Diamond Group and Acacia Research, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Black Diamond Group | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Acacia Research | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Black Diamond Group and Acacia Research”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Black Diamond Group | $294.14 million | 2.52 | $18.72 million | $0.41 | 26.37 |
| Acacia Research | $283.95 million | 1.27 | -$36.06 million | $0.05 | 74.80 |
Black Diamond Group has higher revenue and earnings than Acacia Research. Black Diamond Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acacia Research, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Black Diamond Group has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acacia Research has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Black Diamond Group and Acacia Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Black Diamond Group | 8.23% | 10.76% | 4.79% |
| Acacia Research | 1.70% | 2.45% | 1.80% |
Dividends
Black Diamond Group pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Acacia Research pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.4%. Black Diamond Group pays out 31.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acacia Research pays out 1,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Summary
Black Diamond Group beats Acacia Research on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Black Diamond Group
Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. Its products include office units, lavatories, storage units, large multi-unit office complexes, classroom facilities, banking and health care facilities, high security modular buildings, custom manufactured modular facilities, blast resistant structures, SmartSpace interchangeable paneled units, and storage containers. This segment also sells new and used space rentals units; and provides delivery, installation, project management, and ancillary rental items, products, and services. The Workforce Solutions segment provides workforce housing solutions, including rental of accommodations and surface equipment, and provision of turnkey lodging and travel management logistics services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. This segment also provides associated services, such as installation, transportation, dismantlement, and sale of used fleet assets. This segment primarily serves the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. It also provides specialized field rentals to oil and gas industries. The company markets its rental assets, custom sales, and ancillary products and services through in-house sales personnel, its website, social media, web campaigns, and its digital marketplace. Black Diamond Group Limited was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
About Acacia Research
Acacia is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: ACTG) company that is focused on acquiring and operating businesses across the industrial, energy and technology sectors where it believes it can leverage its expertise, significant capital base, and deep industry relationships to drive value. Acacia evaluates opportunities based on the attractiveness of the underlying cash flows, without regard to a specific investment horizon. Acacia operates its businesses based on three key principles of people, process, and performance and has built a management team with demonstrated expertise in research, transactions and execution, and operations and management.