Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) & The Competition Critical Contrast

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) is one of 166 public companies in the “Diversified Consumer Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Grand Canyon Education to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Grand Canyon Education has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grand Canyon Education’s peers have a beta of 0.51, meaning that their average share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Grand Canyon Education and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grand Canyon Education	21.85%	37.61%	27.42%
Grand Canyon Education Competitors	-3.87%	-29.68%	2.40%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Grand Canyon Education and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grand Canyon Education	0	1	3	0	2.75
Grand Canyon Education Competitors	1447	3453	5297	197	2.41

Grand Canyon Education currently has a consensus price target of $187.33, suggesting a potential upside of 60.80%. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies have a potential upside of 62.56%. Given Grand Canyon Education’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Grand Canyon Education has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Grand Canyon Education and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grand Canyon Education	$1.11 billion	$216.17 million	12.45
Grand Canyon Education Competitors	$3.24 billion	$219.39 million	15.42

Grand Canyon Education’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Grand Canyon Education. Grand Canyon Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.2% of Grand Canyon Education shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.4% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Grand Canyon Education shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Grand Canyon Education beats its peers on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. is an education services company that provides technology, academic, and operational support to colleges and universities. Its services include online learning platforms, enrollment and student support, curriculum development, marketing, and other administrative functions. The company’s primary relationship is with Grand Canyon University (GCU), a private university based in Phoenix, Arizona. GCE has provided services to GCU under a long-term agreement since the university became a nonprofit institution in 2018.