Head to Head Survey: Pearson (NYSE:PSO) versus Oriental Land (OTCMKTS:OLCLY)

Pearson (NYSE:PSO) and Oriental Land (OTCMKTS:OLCLY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Pearson and Oriental Land, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pearson	0	5	2	0	2.29
Oriental Land	0	1	0	0	2.00

Dividends

Pearson pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Oriental Land pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Oriental Land pays out 11.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk and Volatility

Pearson has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oriental Land has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pearson and Oriental Land”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pearson	$4.72 billion	2.10	$441.77 million	N/A	N/A
Oriental Land	$4.68 billion	6.68	$804.41 million	$0.54	35.34

Oriental Land has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Pearson.

Profitability

This table compares Pearson and Oriental Land’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pearson	N/A	N/A	N/A
Oriental Land	18.75%	12.36%	8.57%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Summary

Pearson beats Oriental Land on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Oriental Land

Oriental Land Co., Ltd. operates and manages theme parks and hotels in Japan. It operates through Theme Park, Hotel Business, and Other Business segments. The Theme Park segment operates and manages Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea theme parks. The Hotel Business segment operates and manages Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta, Disney Ambassador Hotel, and Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel, as well as Tokyo Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel. The Other Business segment operates and manages Ikspiari, a shopping complex that includes shops and restaurants, and a cinema complex; and Disney Resort Line, a monorail connecting four stations within Tokyo Disney Resort. It is also involved in the land development. Oriental Land Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1960 and is based in Urayasu, Japan.