Strategic Education (STRA) vs. Its Peers Head to Head Contrast

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) is one of 166 publicly-traded companies in the “Diversified Consumer Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Strategic Education to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Strategic Education has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Strategic Education’s competitors have a beta of 0.50, suggesting that their average stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.3% of Strategic Education shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.0% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Strategic Education shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.5% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Strategic Education and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Strategic Education	$1.27 billion	$126.61 million	8.70
Strategic Education Competitors	$3.23 billion	$219.82 million	11.78

Strategic Education’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Strategic Education. Strategic Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Strategic Education pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Strategic Education pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.0% and pay out 36.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Strategic Education lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Strategic Education and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Strategic Education	10.46%	8.98%	7.11%
Strategic Education Competitors	-3.00%	-28.34%	2.46%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Strategic Education and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Strategic Education	0	6	0	0	2.00
Strategic Education Competitors	1444	3449	5291	197	2.41

Strategic Education presently has a consensus price target of $87.00, suggesting a potential upside of 66.67%. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies have a potential upside of 63.21%. Given Strategic Education’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Strategic Education is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Strategic Education competitors beat Strategic Education on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Strategic Education Company Profile

Strategic Education, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute. In addition, the company operates Capella University that provides post-secondary education; Torrens University, which offers undergraduate, graduate, higher degree by research, and specialized degree courses primarily in business, design and creative technology, health, hospitality, and education fields through online and on physical campuses located in Australia; Think Education, a vocational training organization; and Media Design School, which provides industry-endorsed courses in 3D animation and visual effects, game art and programming, graphic and motion design, digital media artificial intelligence, and creative advertising in New Zealand. It also offers Workforce Edge, a platform to employers that provides education benefits administration solutions; and Sophia Learning, which enables lower cost education benefits programs. Strategic Education, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.