American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) and Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
91.7% of American Public Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of American Public Education shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.0% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for American Public Education and Lincoln Educational Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| American Public Education | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.86 |
| Lincoln Educational Services | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
American Public Education currently has a consensus target price of $41.3333, suggesting a potential upside of 51.02%. Lincoln Educational Services has a consensus target price of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 29.60%. Given American Public Education's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Public Education is more favorable than Lincoln Educational Services.
Profitability
This table compares American Public Education and Lincoln Educational Services' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| American Public Education | 5.63% | 5.95% | 4.88% |
| Lincoln Educational Services | 4.12% | 27.42% | 6.15% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares American Public Education and Lincoln Educational Services' gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| American Public Education | $286.27 million | 1.79 | $10.01 million | $1.09 | 25.11 |
| Lincoln Educational Services | $273.34 million | 0.72 | $2.02 million | $0.08 | 91.63 |
American Public Education has higher revenue and earnings than Lincoln Educational Services. American Public Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lincoln Educational Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
American Public Education has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lincoln Educational Services has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
American Public Education beats Lincoln Educational Services on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
