Reviewing Vasta Platform (VSTA) & The Competition

Vasta Platform (NASDAQ:VSTA) is one of 272 public companies in the “IT Services” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Vasta Platform to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vasta Platform and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vasta Platform	$1.74 billion	$90.19 million	4.80
Vasta Platform Competitors	$3.33 billion	$227.67 million	-31.90

Vasta Platform’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Vasta Platform. Vasta Platform is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Risk & Volatility

Vasta Platform has a beta of -0.29, indicating that its stock price is 129% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vasta Platform’s competitors have a beta of 2.15, indicating that their average stock price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.8% of Vasta Platform shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.7% of shares of all “IT Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Vasta Platform shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “IT Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Vasta Platform and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vasta Platform	1	1	0	0	1.50
Vasta Platform Competitors	1984	5637	9416	346	2.47

As a group, “IT Services” companies have a potential upside of 23.64%. Given Vasta Platform’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vasta Platform has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Vasta Platform and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vasta Platform	27.31%	1.53%	1.06%
Vasta Platform Competitors	-191.25%	-32.07%	-8.67%

Summary

Vasta Platform competitors beat Vasta Platform on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Vasta Platform

Vasta Platform Limited provides educational printed and digital solutions to private schools operating in the K-12 education sector in Brazil. The company offers digital and printed textbooks, teacher handbooks, exercise books, multidisciplinary subject books, and student evaluations; and PAR platform that allows schools to select their preferred books and materials and follow their own specific teaching methods. It also provides traditional learning systems under the Anglo, Pitágoras, Rede Cristã de Educação, Maxi Ético, Fibonacci, Mackenzie, and Amplia brands; ongoing training for educators; and services to partner schools, including consulting services for school management and the organization of events, and a proprietary and differentiated evaluation system for partner schools and their students. In addition, the company offers Plurall that provides a digital learning experience and allows for tailor-made adjustments for each school; Plurall Maestro that develops digital solutions to help educators in planning and conducting classes; PROFS, a teacher training program; O Líder em Mim, a program with content, methodology, teaching material, and training to develop leadership; English Stars, an English educational platform; EduAll, a bilingual program to enhance its current solutions; Plurall Olímpico, a content for scientific competitions; MindMakers to develop leadership, collaboration, and persistence through multidisciplinary problem-solving exercises; Matific that provides interactive learning environments and adaptable worksheets; Plurall Store; Plurall Adapta for adaptive learning sessions; Plurall MeuProf to connect students with professors for private tutoring; Prepara to prepare students for external assessments; Leader in Me to develop socio-emotional competencies of K12 students; Education Systems, a structured teaching system for K12 students and teachers; and Prepara ENEM. Vasta Platform Limited was founded in 1966 and is based in São Paulo, Brazil.