LAIX (NYSE:LAIX) and Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for LAIX and Universal Technical Institute, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
LAIX | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Universal Technical Institute | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
LAIX currently has a consensus price target of $2.80, indicating a potential upside of 43.59%. Universal Technical Institute has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 69.20%. Given Universal Technical Institute's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Universal Technical Institute is more favorable than LAIX.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares LAIX and Universal Technical Institute's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
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LAIX | $146.98 million | 0.65 | $-82,560,000.00 | ($1.67) | -1.17 |
Universal Technical Institute | $300.76 million | 0.64 | $8.01 million | ($0.14) | -42.21 |
Universal Technical Institute has higher revenue and earnings than LAIX. Universal Technical Institute is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LAIX, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
LAIX has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Technical Institute has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
20.6% of LAIX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of Universal Technical Institute shares are held by institutional investors. 16.3% of Universal Technical Institute shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares LAIX and Universal Technical Institute's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
LAIX | -58.21% | N/A | -73.99% |
Universal Technical Institute | 2.66% | -1.66% | -0.38% |
Summary
Universal Technical Institute beats LAIX on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.