Nord Anglia Education (NYSE: NORD) and Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ:CECO) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.
Profitability
This table compares Nord Anglia Education and Career Education Corporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Nord Anglia Education | 6.71% | 22.11% | 3.06% |
| Career Education Corporation | -3.82% | 3.73% | 2.35% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
35.3% of Nord Anglia Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.7% of Career Education Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Nord Anglia Education shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.9% of Career Education Corporation shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Nord Anglia Education and Career Education Corporation, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Nord Anglia Education | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2.13 |
| Career Education Corporation | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
Nord Anglia Education currently has a consensus target price of $30.50, indicating a potential downside of 6.30%. Career Education Corporation has a consensus target price of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 51.87%. Given Career Education Corporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Career Education Corporation is more favorable than Nord Anglia Education.
Volatility & Risk
Nord Anglia Education has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Career Education Corporation has a beta of 2.67, meaning that its stock price is 167% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Nord Anglia Education and Career Education Corporation’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Nord Anglia Education | $907.80 million | 3.73 | $173.60 million | $0.57 | 57.11 |
| Career Education Corporation | $631.21 million | 0.94 | $42.44 million | ($0.36) | -23.78 |
Nord Anglia Education has higher revenue and earnings than Career Education Corporation. Career Education Corporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nord Anglia Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Nord Anglia Education beats Career Education Corporation on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Nord Anglia Education
Nord Anglia Education, Inc. is an operator of international schools. As of August 31, 2016, the Company taught over 37,000 students, from kindergarten through the end of secondary school (K-12), at its 43 schools in China, Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and North America. The Company’s segments include China, Europe, Middle East (ME), Southeast Asia (SEA), North America and Other. The China segment includes its activities in the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Europe segment includes the Company’s activities in Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Spain and Poland. The ME segment includes the Company’s activities in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The SEA segment includes the Company’s activities in Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam. The North America segment includes the Company’s activities in the United States and Mexico. The Other segment includes the Learning Services division.
About Career Education Corporation
Career Education Corporation, through its colleges, institutions and universities, offers education to students in a range of career-oriented disciplines through online, on-ground and hybrid learning programs. The Company’s American InterContinental University (AIU) and Colorado Technical University (CTU) provide degree programs through the master’s or doctoral level as well as associate and bachelor’s levels. The Company operates through four segments: CTU, AIU, Culinary Arts and Transitional Group. Its University group consists of AIU and CTU, which serve students online with career-focused degree programs. Its Career Colleges Group consists of Culinary Arts and Transitional Group segments. The Culinary Arts segment includes Le Cordon Bleu institutions in North America (LCB), which offer hands-on educational programs in the career-oriented disciplines of culinary arts and patisserie and baking in the commercial-grade kitchens of Le Cordon Bleu.
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