Reviewing Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) & Monex Group (OTCMKTS:MNXBF)

Monex Group (OTCMKTS:MNXBF) and Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Monex Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Laureate Education	17.57%	23.54%	11.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Monex Group and Laureate Education, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Monex Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Laureate Education	1	2	4	0	2.43

Laureate Education has a consensus price target of $40.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.38%. Given Laureate Education’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Laureate Education is more favorable than Monex Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Monex Group and Laureate Education”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Monex Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$11.59	0.38
Laureate Education	$1.70 billion	3.14	$281.63 million	$2.23	17.40

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

9.7% of Monex Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Laureate Education shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Laureate Education shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Laureate Education beats Monex Group on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Monex Group

Monex Group, Inc., an online financial institution, provides retail online brokerage services in Japan, the United States, China, and Australia. It offers international forex, asset management, investor education, M&A advisory, and cryptocurrency exchange services; investment and trading, and investment education services; asset building and management services; custodial trust service; private banking services for high net worth clients; investment advisory services; management and utilization services for genomic, medical, and healthcare data; and education and childcare services. In addition, it involved in development and operation of marketing SaaS ChatBook'; research and design, study, development, and consultation on cryptocurrency; and development of trading technology. The company was formerly known as Monex Beans Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Monex Group, Inc. in July 2008. Monex Group, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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.