Coursera (NYSE:COUR) versus Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Head to Head Comparison

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) and Coursera (NYSE:COUR) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Perdoceo Education has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Coursera has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Perdoceo Education and Coursera”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perdoceo Education	$858.61 million	2.42	$159.91 million	$2.74	12.11
Coursera	$885.40 million	1.61	-$51.00 million	($0.67)	-8.02

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Perdoceo Education and Coursera, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perdoceo Education	0	1	2	0	2.67
Coursera	1	4	7	0	2.50

Perdoceo Education currently has a consensus target price of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.62%. Coursera has a consensus target price of $8.55, indicating a potential upside of 58.99%. Given Coursera’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Coursera is more favorable than Perdoceo Education.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.5% of Perdoceo Education shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.6% of Coursera shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Perdoceo Education shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.3% of Coursera shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Perdoceo Education and Coursera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perdoceo Education	20.62%	18.93%	14.66%
Coursera	-15.39%	-1.72%	-1.07%

Summary

Perdoceo Education beats Coursera on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice. The American InterContinental University System segment provides academic programs, including business studies, information technologies, education, and health sciences. The company also offers non-degree and professional development programs. In addition, it operates intellipath, a learning platform used to educate students; and a mobile application and two-way messaging platform. The company was formerly known as Career Education Corporation and changed its name to Perdoceo Education Corporation in January 2020. Perdoceo Education Corporation was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc. operates an online educational content platform in the United States, Europe, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees. The company offers guided projects, courses, and specializations, as well as online degrees; and certificates for entry-level professional, non-entry level professional, university, and MasterTrack. It offers its products to individuals, enterprise, business, campus, and government. The company was formerly known as Dkandu, Inc. and changed its name to Coursera, Inc. in April 2012. Coursera, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.