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Reasons to Retain FTI Consulting (FCN) in Your Portfolio

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FTI Consulting, Inc. (FCN - Free Report) has had an impressive run on the bourses over the past year. Shares have appreciated 28.6% year to date, outperforming the 21.6% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

The company has an impressive Growth Score of B. This style score condenses all the essential metrics from a company’s financial statements to get a true sense of the quality and sustainability of its growth. FTI Consulting’s earnings for 2021 and 2022 are expected to grow 11.2% and 9.8% year over year, respectively.

Factors That Auger Well

FTI Consulting continues to invest significantly in headcount, with a view to drive long-term revenues and income. The company has been witnessing increased demand for its transaction and services regarding business transformation, corporate reputation and public affairs, litigation, investigations and information governance, non-M&A-related antitrust, and financial economics. Revenues increased 12.9% year over year in the third quarter of 2021.

FTI Consulting's total debt to total capital ratio was 0.17 at the end of third-quarter 2021, lower than the previous quarter’s 0.21. Lower debt-to-capitalization ratio indicates that the proportion of debt to finance the company’s assets is declining, and so is the risk of insolvency. Further, cash and cash equivalent balance of $343 million at the end of the quarter was enough to meet the long-term debt of $319 million. The company has no current debt.

Debt Woes Stay

FTI Consulting makes the majority of its investments in hiring qualified professionals as well as promoting and training individuals. Such investments are necessary to enhance growth and are likely to benefit the company in the long term. However, escalating investments on people are likely to weigh on the bottom-line at the initial stage.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

FTI Consulting currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the broader Zacks Business Services sector can also consider stocks like CBIZ (CBZ - Free Report) , Korn Ferry (KFY - Free Report) and Accenture (ACN - Free Report) .

CBIZ has an expected earnings growth rate of 23.2% for 2021. CBZ has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 49.8%, on average.

CBIZ’s shares have surged 46.5% in the past year. The stock sports a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Korn Ferry has an expected earnings growth rate of 130.7% for fiscal 2022. KFY has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 41%, on average.

Korn Ferry’s shares have surged 47.1% in the past year. KFY sports a Zacks #1 Rank.

Accenture has an expected earnings growth rate of around 19.8% for the current year. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.3%, on average.

Accenture’s shares have surged 33.1% in the past year. It has a long-term earnings growth of 10%. ACN sports a Zacks #1 Rank.

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