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Charles River (CRAI) Rides on Business Model, Global Presence

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Charles River Associates’ (CRAI - Free Report) top line is benefiting from strength across its five broad-based practices — Antitrust & Competition Economics; Auctions & Competitive Bidding; Intellectual Property; Labor & Employment; and Risk, Investigations & Analytics. Over the past three months, the company’s shares have gained 3.3% against the 5.1% decline of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Investment Research
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Recently, Charles River reported solid first-quarter 2022 results, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both earnings and revenues. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.53, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 35.4% and increased 11.7% year over year. Revenues of $148.4 million surpassed the consensus mark by 9.4% and increased 1.3% year over year.

How is Charles River Doing?

Charles River operates through a global network of coordinated offices across North America and Europe. The company’s international presence allows it to work with the world’s leading professionals on multiple issues. Further, the company has a diversified business, with service offerings across areas of functional expertise, client base and geographical regions. Being proficient in multiple industries helps the company meet varying client needs and offer other innovative services. Its professional team has helped it maintain the solid reputation of premium consulting services that it provides.

Charles River is also consistent in rewarding its shareholders through dividend payments and share repurchases. In 2021, 2020 and 2019, the company repurchased shares worth $44.9 million, $13.4 million and $18.1 million, respectively. It paid $8.29 million, $7.50 million and $6.54 million in dividends during 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Such moves indicate the company’s commitment to create value for shareholders and underline its confidence in its business. These initiatives not only instill investors’ confidence, but also positively impact earnings per share.

However, Charles River's current ratio at the end of first-quarter 2022 was pegged at 1.16, lower than the current ratio of 1.17 reported at the end of the previous quarter. Decreasing current ratio is not desirable, as it indicates that the company may have problems meeting its short-term debt obligations.

Zacks Rank and Other Stocks to Consider

Charles River currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other stocks in the broader Business Services sector that investors can consider are Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN - Free Report) , Gartner (IT - Free Report) and Avis Budget (CAR - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present.

Cross Country Healthcare has an expected earnings growth rate of 54.2% for the current year. CCRN has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29.2%, on average.

Cross Country Healthcare has a long-term earnings growth rate of 6.9%.

Gartner’s shares have gained 9.9% in the past year. IT delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 24.2%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Gartner's current-year earnings has moved up 13.6% in the past 90 days.

Avis Budget has an expected earnings growth rate of 59.8% for the current year. CAR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 102.1%, on average.

Avis Budget has a long-term earnings growth rate of 19.4%.

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