Analyzing Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) & Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY)

Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) and Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Japan Tob and Perdoceo Education, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Tob	1	0	1	1	2.67
Perdoceo Education	0	1	2	0	2.67

Japan Tob currently has a consensus target price of $17.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.07%. Perdoceo Education has a consensus target price of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 51.93%. Given Perdoceo Education’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Perdoceo Education is more favorable than Japan Tob.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Japan Tob and Perdoceo Education”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Tob	$23.20 billion	2.66	$3.42 billion	$1.41	12.31
Perdoceo Education	$862.60 million	2.08	$159.91 million	$2.84	10.20

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

Dividends

Japan Tob pays an annual dividend of $0.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Perdoceo Education pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Japan Tob pays out 37.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Perdoceo Education pays out 23.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Perdoceo Education has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Japan Tob has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perdoceo Education has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.5% of Perdoceo Education shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Perdoceo Education shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Tob and Perdoceo Education’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Tob	N/A	N/A	N/A
Perdoceo Education	21.06%	19.26%	14.93%

Summary

Perdoceo Education beats Japan Tob on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Tob

Japan Tobacco Inc. is a Japanese company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Its portfolio includes cigarette brands such as Winston and Mevius, and the company also offers reduced-risk products and other tobacco-related products. Through its international operations, the company sells tobacco products in markets around the world. Japan Tobacco traces its origins to Japan’s government tobacco monopoly, established in 1898, and became a public company in 1985.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through Colorado Technical University (CTU) and American InterContinental University (AIU). The institutions offer undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as certificates, in fields including business, technology, healthcare, and criminal justice. Both universities deliver much of their instruction online and also maintain campus locations. Their programs are designed to serve working adults and other students seeking flexible study options, primarily in the United States.