Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) and Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Head-To-Head Review

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) and Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Service Corporation International has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grand Canyon Education has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.5% of Service Corporation International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.2% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Service Corporation International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Service Corporation International and Grand Canyon Education, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Service Corporation International	0	1	3	0	2.75
Grand Canyon Education	0	2	3	0	2.60

Service Corporation International currently has a consensus price target of $100.67, suggesting a potential upside of 23.94%. Grand Canyon Education has a consensus price target of $161.67, suggesting a potential upside of 5.33%. Given Service Corporation International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Service Corporation International is more favorable than Grand Canyon Education.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Service Corporation International and Grand Canyon Education”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Service Corporation International	$4.31 billion	2.57	$542.61 million	$3.83	21.21
Grand Canyon Education	$1.14 billion	3.50	$216.17 million	$8.27	18.56

Service Corporation International has higher revenue and earnings than Grand Canyon Education. Grand Canyon Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Service Corporation International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Service Corporation International and Grand Canyon Education’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Service Corporation International	12.30%	34.38%	2.91%
Grand Canyon Education	19.63%	36.62%	26.87%

Summary

Service Corporation International beats Grand Canyon Education on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Service Corporation International

Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering. The Cemetery segment provides property interment rights, including lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, niches, and interment options. The company was founded by Robert L. Waltrip in July 1962 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services. The company also offers marketing and communication services that include lead acquisition, digital communications strategy, brand identity, media planning and strategy, video, business intelligence and data science, and market research services; and back-office services consisting of finance and accounting, human resources, audit, and procurement services. In addition, it provides education services to 25 university partners. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.