Coursera (COUR) Competitors

Parsons (NYSE:PSN) and Coursera (NYSE:COUR) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility & risk, PSN or COUR?

Parsons has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Coursera has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor PSN or COUR?

In the previous week, Parsons had 21 more articles in the media than Coursera. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Parsons and 6 mentions for Coursera. Parsons' average media sentiment score of 0.71 beat Coursera's score of 0.70 indicating that Parsons is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Parsons	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Coursera	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is PSN or COUR more profitable?

Parsons has a net margin of 3.70% compared to Coursera's net margin of -7.05%. Parsons' return on equity of 12.36% beat Coursera's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Parsons	3.70%	12.36%	5.66%
Coursera	-7.05%	-5.16%	-3.32%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, PSN or COUR?

Parsons has higher revenue and earnings than Coursera. Coursera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Parsons, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Parsons	$6.75B	1.26	$235.05M	$2.24	35.61
Coursera	$694.67M	2.77	-$79.53M	-$0.33	-36.08

Do analysts recommend PSN or COUR?

Parsons presently has a consensus target price of $88.70, suggesting a potential upside of 11.21%. Coursera has a consensus target price of $11.25, suggesting a potential downside of 5.50%. Given Parsons' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Parsons is more favorable than Coursera.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Parsons	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Coursera	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.46

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of PSN or COUR?

98.0% of Parsons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.6% of Coursera shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Parsons shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of Coursera shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Parsons beats Coursera on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.