Contrasting Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) & Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) and Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Laureate Education has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carriage Services has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Laureate Education and Carriage Services’ 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%
Carriage Services	10.69%	19.23%	3.71%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.3% of Laureate Education shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.5% of Carriage Services shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Laureate Education shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Carriage Services 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Laureate Education and Carriage Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laureate Education	1	2	3	1	2.57
Carriage Services	1	1	3	0	2.40

Laureate Education currently has a consensus price target of $40.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.88%. Carriage Services has a consensus price target of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 59.29%. Given Carriage Services’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Carriage Services is more favorable than Laureate Education.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Laureate Education and Carriage Services”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Laureate Education	$1.70 billion	2.93	$281.63 million	$2.23	16.23
Carriage Services	$417.44 million	1.22	$51.51 million	$2.79	11.48

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

Summary

Laureate Education beats Carriage Services on 10 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 Carriage Services

Carriage Services, Inc. provides funeral and cemetery services, and merchandise in the United States. It operates in two segments, Funeral Home Operations and Cemetery Operations. The Funeral Home Operations segment provides consultation services; funeral home facilities for visitation and memorial services; transportation services; removal and preparation of remains; sale of caskets and urns; cremation services; and related funeral merchandise. The Cemetery Operations segment sells interment rights for grave sites, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, and niches; related cemetery merchandise, including memorial markers, outer burial containers, and monuments; and interments, inurnments, and installation of cemetery merchandise services. Carriage Services, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas.