Reviewing Coursera (NYSE:COUR) and New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU)

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) and New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Coursera has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Coursera and New Oriental Education & Technology Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coursera	-15.39%	-1.72%	-1.07%
New Oriental Education & Technology Group	8.39%	11.32%	5.84%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.5% of Coursera shares are held by institutional investors. 16.3% of Coursera shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.5% of New Oriental Education & Technology Group shares are held by 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Coursera and New Oriental Education & Technology Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coursera	$757.50 million	1.83	-$51.00 million	($0.67)	-7.81
New Oriental Education & Technology Group	$5.66 billion	1.52	$475.17 million	$2.96	18.45

New Oriental Education & Technology Group has higher revenue and earnings than Coursera. Coursera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New Oriental Education & Technology Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Coursera and New Oriental Education & Technology Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coursera	1	4	7	0	2.50
New Oriental Education & Technology Group	0	2	4	1	2.86

Coursera currently has a consensus price target of $8.55, indicating a potential upside of 63.24%. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a consensus price target of $61.92, indicating a potential upside of 13.42%. Given Coursera’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Coursera is more favorable than New Oriental Education & Technology Group.

Summary

New Oriental Education & Technology Group beats Coursera on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc. operates an online educational content platform in the United States, Europe, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees. The company offers guided projects, courses, and specializations, as well as online degrees; and certificates for entry-level professional, non-entry level professional, university, and MasterTrack. It offers its products to individuals, enterprise, business, campus, and government. The company was formerly known as Dkandu, Inc. and changed its name to Coursera, Inc. in April 2012. Coursera, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

About New Oriental Education & Technology Group

New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of private educational services. It operates through the following segments: Educational Services and Test Preparation Courses, Private Label Products and Livestreaming E-Commerce, Overseas Study Consulting Services, and Educational Materials and Distribution. The company was founded by Min Hong Yu and Yong Qiang Qian on November 16, 1993, and is headquartered in Beijing, China.