Critical Review: Pearson (NYSE:PSO) and Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C (NASDAQ:LLYVK)

Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C (NASDAQ:LLYVK) and Pearson (NYSE:PSO) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C and Pearson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pearson	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C and Pearson, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C	0	1	0	0	2.00
Pearson	0	1	1	1	3.00

Pearson has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.54%. Given Pearson’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Pearson is more favorable than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.4% of Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.1% of Pearson shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Pearson shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C and Pearson”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C	N/A	N/A	N/A	($3.12)	-29.41
Pearson	$4.54 billion	2.03	$554.61 million	$0.94	15.13

Pearson has higher revenue and earnings than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C. Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pearson, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pearson has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Pearson beats Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C

Liberty Live Group operates in the media, communications, and entertainment industries primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

About Pearson

Pearson plc offers educational courseware, assessments, and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, other European countries, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Assessment & Qualifications, Virtual Learning, English Language Learning, Workforce Skills, and Higher Education. The Assessment & Qualifications segment offers Pearson VUE, US student assessment, clinical assessment, UK GCSE, and A levels and international academic qualifications and associated courseware. The Virtual Learning segment provides virtual schools and online program management services. The English Language Learning segment offers Pearson test of English, institutional courseware, and English online solutions. The Workforce Skills offers BTEC, GED, TalentLens, Faethm, Credly, Pearson college, and apprenticeships. The Higher Education segment engages in the US, Canadian, and international higher education courseware businesses. The company was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.