Financial Contrast: Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) versus ADT (NYSE:ADT)

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) and ADT (NYSE:ADT) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Grand Canyon Education has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ADT has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Grand Canyon Education and ADT”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grand Canyon Education	$1.14 billion	3.42	$216.17 million	$8.27	18.10
ADT	$5.13 billion	1.07	$595.95 million	$0.71	10.55

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Grand Canyon Education and ADT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grand Canyon Education	0	2	3	0	2.60
ADT	1	4	2	0	2.14

Grand Canyon Education currently has a consensus target price of $161.67, suggesting a potential upside of 7.99%. ADT has a consensus target price of $8.23, suggesting a potential upside of 9.82%. Given ADT’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ADT is more favorable than Grand Canyon Education.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grand Canyon Education	19.63%	36.62%	26.87%
ADT	11.85%	18.99%	4.40%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.2% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.2% of ADT shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of ADT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Grand Canyon Education beats ADT on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services. The company also offers marketing and communication services that include lead acquisition, digital communications strategy, brand identity, media planning and strategy, video, business intelligence and data science, and market research services; and back-office services consisting of finance and accounting, human resources, audit, and procurement services. In addition, it provides education services to 25 university partners. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About ADT

ADT Inc. provides security, interactive, and smart home solutions to residential and small business customers in the United States. It operates through two segments, Consumer and Small Business, and Solar. The company provides burglar and life safety alarms, smart security cameras, smart home automation systems, and video surveillance systems. It primarily offers security designed to detect intrusion, control access, sense movement, smoke, fire, carbon monoxide, flooding, temperature, and other environmental conditions and hazards; and address personal medical emergencies, such as injuries or unanticipated falls. The company also provides automation and smart home solutions that allow customers to use their smart phones, smart phone application, or touchscreen panels in their homes to arm and disarm their security systems; record and view real-time video; and creates customized and automated schedules for connected devices; programs systems to react to defined events; integrates system with third-party connected devices, such as cameras, lights, thermostats, appliances, and garage doors, as well as offers monitoring and maintenance services. In addition, the company offers energy storage solutions, energy efficiency upgrades, and roofing services. It offers its products under the ADT, ADT Pulse, ADT+, and ADT Commercial brand names. The company was formerly known as Prime Security Services Parent, Inc. and changed its name to ADT Inc. in September 2017. ADT Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.