Comparing Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) & Oriental Land (OTCMKTS:OLCLY)

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) and Oriental Land (OTCMKTS:OLCLY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Laureate Education and Oriental Land”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Laureate Education	$1.70 billion	3.12	$281.63 million	$2.23	17.29
Oriental Land	$4.68 billion	6.35	$804.41 million	$0.54	33.59

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Laureate Education and Oriental Land, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laureate Education	1	2	4	0	2.43
Oriental Land	0	1	0	0	2.00

Laureate Education presently has a consensus price target of $40.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.03%. Given Laureate Education’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Laureate Education is more favorable than Oriental Land.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.3% of Laureate Education shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Laureate Education shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Laureate Education and Oriental Land’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Laureate Education	17.57%	23.54%	11.72%
Oriental Land	18.75%	12.35%	8.57%

Volatility and Risk

Laureate Education has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oriental Land has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Laureate Education beats Oriental Land on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs. It also offers specialized courses for technical and vocational training; and senior high school. Its services are provides in Mexico, Peru, and the United States. The company was formerly known as Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Laureate Education, Inc. in May 2004. Laureate Education, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Oriental Land

Oriental Land Co., Ltd. operates and manages theme parks and hotels in Japan. It operates through Theme Park, Hotel Business, and Other Business segments. The Theme Park segment operates and manages Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea theme parks. The Hotel Business segment operates and manages Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta, Disney Ambassador Hotel, and Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel, as well as Tokyo Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel. The Other Business segment operates and manages Ikspiari, a shopping complex that includes shops and restaurants, and a cinema complex; and Disney Resort Line, a monorail connecting four stations within Tokyo Disney Resort. It is also involved in the land development. Oriental Land Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1960 and is based in Urayasu, Japan.