Reviewing Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) & The Competition

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) is one of 166 public companies in the “Diversified Consumer Services” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Grand Canyon Education to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Grand Canyon Education has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grand Canyon Education’s rivals have a beta of 0.51, indicating that their average stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.2% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.4% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Grand Canyon Education and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grand Canyon Education	0	1	3	0	2.75
Grand Canyon Education Competitors	1447	3453	5297	197	2.41

Grand Canyon Education presently has a consensus target price of $187.33, indicating a potential upside of 60.80%. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies have a potential upside of 62.56%. Given Grand Canyon Education’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Grand Canyon Education has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Grand Canyon Education and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grand Canyon Education	21.85%	37.61%	27.42%
Grand Canyon Education Competitors	-3.87%	-29.68%	2.40%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Grand Canyon Education and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grand Canyon Education	$1.11 billion	$216.17 million	12.45
Grand Canyon Education Competitors	$3.24 billion	$219.39 million	15.42

Grand Canyon Education’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Grand Canyon Education. Grand Canyon Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Grand Canyon Education beats its rivals on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. is an education services company that provides technology, academic, and operational support to colleges and universities. Its services include online learning platforms, enrollment and student support, curriculum development, marketing, and other administrative functions. The company’s primary relationship is with Grand Canyon University (GCU), a private university based in Phoenix, Arizona. GCE has provided services to GCU under a long-term agreement since the university became a nonprofit institution in 2018.