Head to Head Survey: Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) versus Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM)

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) and Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Laureate Education and Bright Horizons Family Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Laureate Education	$1.91 billion	2.42	$281.63 million	$2.73	12.30
Bright Horizons Family Solutions	$3.07 billion	0.84	$193.12 million	($2.97)	-18.09

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

Volatility & Risk

Laureate Education has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.3% of Laureate Education shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Laureate Education shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Laureate Education and Bright Horizons Family Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Laureate Education	20.28%	26.41%	12.76%
Bright Horizons Family Solutions	-4.38%	23.72%	6.45%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Laureate Education and Bright Horizons Family Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laureate Education	1	2	3	1	2.57
Bright Horizons Family Solutions	2	4	4	0	2.20

Laureate Education presently has a consensus price target of $40.90, indicating a potential upside of 21.76%. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a consensus price target of $79.50, indicating a potential upside of 48.01%. Given Bright Horizons Family Solutions’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Bright Horizons Family Solutions is more favorable than Laureate Education.

Summary

Laureate Education beats Bright Horizons Family Solutions on 11 of the 15 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 Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. provides early education and childcare, back-up care, educational advisory, and other workplace solutions services for employers and families in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and India. The company operates in three segments: Full Service Center-Based Child Care, Back-Up Care, and Educational Advisory and Other Services. The Full Service Center-Based Child Care segment offers traditional center-based child care and early education, preschool, and elementary education services. The Back-Up Care segment provides center-based back-up child care, in-home child and adult/elder dependent care, school-age camps, virtual tutoring, and self-sourced reimbursed care services through child care centers, school-age campuses, and in-home caregivers, as well as the back-up care network. The Educational Advisory and Other Services segment offers tuition assistance and student loan repayment program administration, workforce education, and related educational consulting services, as well as college admissions and college financial advisory services. The company was formerly known as Bright Horizons Solutions Corp. and changed its name to Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. in July 2012. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.