Financial Analysis: Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) versus OneSpaWorld (NASDAQ:OSW)

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) and OneSpaWorld (NASDAQ:OSW) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Laureate Education has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OneSpaWorld has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Laureate Education and OneSpaWorld”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Laureate Education	$1.70 billion	3.11	$281.63 million	$2.23	17.25
OneSpaWorld	$961.00 million	2.76	$71.62 million	$0.79	33.02

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.3% of Laureate Education shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of OneSpaWorld shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Laureate Education shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of OneSpaWorld shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Laureate Education and OneSpaWorld, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laureate Education	1	2	3	1	2.57
OneSpaWorld	0	1	5	1	3.00

Laureate Education currently has a consensus target price of $40.50, indicating a potential upside of 5.29%. OneSpaWorld has a consensus target price of $30.60, indicating a potential upside of 17.31%. Given OneSpaWorld’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe OneSpaWorld is more favorable than Laureate Education.

Profitability

This table compares Laureate Education and OneSpaWorld’s 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%
OneSpaWorld	8.02%	18.36%	14.28%

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 OneSpaWorld

OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited operates health and wellness centers onboard cruise ships and at destination resorts worldwide. Its health and wellness centers offer services, such as traditional body, salon, and skin care services and products; self-service fitness facilities, specialized fitness classes, and personal fitness training; pain management, detoxifying programs, and body composition analyses; weight management programs and products; and medi-spa services. The company also provides its guests access to beauty and wellness brands, including ELEMIS, Grown Alchemist, Kérastase, Dysport, Restylane, Thermage, CoolSculpting, truSculpt 3D, truSculpt iD, Good Feet, and Hyperice with various brands offered in the cruise market. The company is based in Nassau, Bahamas.