Comparing New York Times (NYSE:NYT) & Educational Development (NASDAQ:EDUC)

Educational Development (NASDAQ:EDUC) and New York Times (NYSE:NYT) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Educational Development and New York Times’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Educational Development	9.75%	-18.23%	-12.73%
New York Times	13.19%	22.64%	15.58%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Educational Development and New York Times, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Educational Development	1	0	0	0	1.00
New York Times	0	5	5	1	2.64

New York Times has a consensus price target of $84.20, indicating a potential upside of 20.16%. Given New York Times’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe New York Times is more favorable than Educational Development.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Educational Development and New York Times”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Educational Development	$22.91 million	0.49	$2.33 million	$0.23	5.70
New York Times	$2.82 billion	4.00	$343.98 million	$2.40	29.20

New York Times has higher revenue and earnings than Educational Development. Educational Development is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New York Times, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.6% of Educational Development shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.4% of New York Times shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Educational Development shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of New York Times shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Educational Development has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, New York Times has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

New York Times beats Educational Development on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Educational Development

Educational Development Corporation, a publishing company, operates as a publisher of educational children's books in the United States. It operates through two segments, PaperPie and Publishing. The company offers various books, including touchy-feely board books, activity books and flashcards, adventure and search books, art books, sticker books, and foreign language books, as well as internet-linked books comprising science and math titles, and chapter books and novels. It markets its products to retail accounts, which include book, school supply, toy and gift stores and museums, through commissioned sales representatives, trade and specialty wholesalers, and its internal tele-sales group; and through a network of independent sales consultants through internet sales, direct sales, home shows, and book fairs. Educational Development Corporation was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company’s mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast. The company also offers The Athletic, a sports media product; Cooking, a recipe product; Games, a puzzle games product; and Audio, an audio product. In addition, it offers a portfolio of advertising products and services to advertisers, such as luxury goods, technology, and financial companies, to promote products, services or brands on digital platforms in the form of display ads, audio and video, in print in the form of column-inch ads, and at live events; and Wirecutter, a product review and recommendation product. Further, the company licenses content to digital aggregators in the business, professional, academic and library markets, and third-party digital platforms; articles, graphics, and photographs, including newspapers, magazines, and websites; and for use in television, films, and books, as well as provide rights to reprint articles, and create and sell new digests. Additionally, it engages in commercial printing and distribution for third parties; and operates the NYTimes.com website. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in New York, New York.