American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) and Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
91.7% of American Public Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of Universal Technical Institute shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of American Public Education shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.3% of Universal Technical Institute shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares American Public Education and Universal Technical Institute's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) 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 |
| Universal Technical Institute | $300.76 million | 0.68 | $8.01 million | ($0.14) | -44.21 |
American Public Education has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Universal Technical Institute. Universal Technical Institute is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Public Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
American Public Education has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Technical Institute has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for American Public Education and Universal Technical Institute, 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 |
| Universal Technical Institute | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
American Public Education presently has a consensus target price of $41.3333, suggesting a potential upside of 51.02%. Universal Technical Institute has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 61.55%. Given Universal Technical Institute's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Universal Technical Institute is more favorable than American Public Education.
Profitability
This table compares American Public Education and Universal Technical Institute's 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% |
| Universal Technical Institute | 2.66% | -1.66% | -0.38% |
Summary
American Public Education beats Universal Technical Institute on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
