CVSA vs BFAM vs STRA Stock Comparison

Covista, Bright Horizons Family Solutions and Strategic Education Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CVSA Covista Inc.
$131.80 +9.1% 1M -13.8% 1Y
Market cap
$4.63B
P/E
18.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
6 wins
STRA Strategic Education, Inc.
$81.19 +5.7% 1M -3.4% 1Y
Market cap
$1.73B
P/E
12.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
0.03%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Covista leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Covista 6, Strategic Education 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCVSABFAMSTRALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.63B $3.69B $1.73B CVSA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.4x 21.1x 12.9x STRA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.4x 13.9x 11.0x STRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +8.5% +3.5% CVSA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.9% 5.8% 10.5% CVSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.0% 9.3% — CVSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 2.8x — CVSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -13.8% -27.0% -3.4% STRA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.7%/yr -14.4%/yr +3.2%/yr CVSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 57.4% 47.7% 36.1% STRA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 51/100 79/100 STRA

Percentile Scorecard

CVSABFAMSTRA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCVSABFAMSTRA
Valuation 47 #18 of 33 31 #23 of 33 84 #6 of 33
Growth 72 #9 of 30 52 #15 of 30 86 #5 of 30
Profitability 89 #4 of 29 50 #15 of 29 61 #12 of 29
Financial Health 45 #22 of 39 24 #30 of 39 71 #12 of 39
Shareholder Returns 77 #4 of 14 100 #1 of 14 92 #2 of 14
Overall 66 51 79
  • CVSA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • BFAM ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • STRA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCVSABFAMSTRASPY
1 month +9.1%+11.8%+5.7% -0.8%
3 months +9.5%-5.4%+3.4% +3.5%
6 months +17.3%-9.4%+6.9% +7.0%
Year to date +27.4%-27.4%+1.2% +12.2%
1 year -13.8%-27.0%-3.4% +13.0%
3 years +163.7%+2.0%+1.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +38.2%+0.7%+0.4% +23.1%
5 years +253.3%-54.0%+17.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +28.7%-14.4%+3.2% +11.0%
10 years +461.1%+9.9%+49.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +18.8%+1.0%+4.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCVSABFAMSTRASPY
Volatility, 1Y 57.4%47.7%36.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 74.1%55.0%41.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.05-0.29-0.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.24-0.57-0.09 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.2%-67.2%-41.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.4%-32.6%-7.3% -1.8%
52-week high $153.98$109.23$87.62 $779.14
52-week low $89.36$59.18$72.19 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCVSABFAMSTRA
P/E now vs peer median 18.4xmedian 15.5x 21.7xmedian 15.5x 12.9xmedian 15.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.3x 1.2xmedian 1.3x 1.4xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.7xmedian 10.1x 11.7xmedian 10.1x 7.3xmedian 10.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 14.7x 15.4xmedian 14.7x 10.7xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 2.0x 3.8xmedian 2.0x 1.1xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.36median 0.35 0.49median 0.35 0.22median 0.35

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCVSABFAMSTRA
Revenue $1.95B $3.03B $1.29B
Gross profit $1.12B $711.35M –
Operating income $383.38M $311.11M $180.24M
Net income $251.57M $175.04M $134.51M
Free cash flow $393.10M $235.93M $168.59M
EPS (diluted) $7.04 $3.38 $6.19
Cash & equivalents $406.32M $163.69M $123.76M
Total debt $662.85M $1.29B –
Shares (diluted) 35.72M 51.76M 21.74M
Enterprise value $3.76B $3.13B $1.12B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCVSABFAMSTRA
P/E 18.4x 21.7x 12.9x
P/FCF 11.4x 15.4x 10.7x
P/Operating cash flow 9.5x 10.9x 8.4x
P/S 2.3x 1.2x 1.4x
P/B 3.1x 3.8x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 6.5x 4.8x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 10.7x 11.7x 7.3x
EV/EBIT 12.4x 15.3x 9.3x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 1.6x 1.3x
EV/FCF 12.1x 20.1x 9.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.1x 14.3x 7.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.36 0.49 0.22

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCVSABFAMSTRA
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 8.5% 3.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.4% 10.8% 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.2% 7.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.8% 12.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.2% 8.8% 14.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.6% 26.2% 52.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.1% -1.0% 16.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 39.2% 39.1% 54.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 13.9% 10.4% 26.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 51.0% 44.4% 59.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 39.3% 0.3% 29.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 34.2% 11.1% 35.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.7% -2.8% 35.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.8% 14.2% 52.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCVSABFAMSTRA
Gross margin 57.3% 23.5% –
EBITDA margin 22.6% 13.5% 17.7%
Operating margin 19.6% 10.3% 14.0%
Pretax margin 17.7% 8.6% 14.3%
Net margin 12.9% 5.8% 10.5%
FCF margin 20.1% 7.8% 13.1%
Operating cash flow margin 24.1% 11.0% 16.8%
Return on equity 17.9% 16.8% 8.2%
Return on assets 8.8% 4.6% 6.5%
Return on invested capital 15.0% 9.3% –
Return on capital employed 16.8% 11.0% 10.0%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.9x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% 1.0% 1.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCVSABFAMSTRA
Debt / assets 22.0% 34.0% –
Debt / equity 0.5x 1.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 2.8x –
Debt / FCF 1.7x 5.5x –
Liabilities / assets 52.0% 75.1% 21.0%
Equity / assets 48.0% 24.9% 79.0%
Interest coverage 8.4x 6.2x –
Current ratio 1.1x 0.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.4x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 4.22 2.04 3.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCVSABFAMSTRA
Dividend yield – – 3.0%
Net buyback yield 5.3% 17.5% 8.4%
Shareholder yield 5.3% 17.5% 11.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 41.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 32.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -5.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -2.1%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCVSABFAMSTRA
Forward P/E 15.4xFY2027 13.9xFY2026 11.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.57FY2027 $5.31FY2026 $7.38FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.9%FY2027 +16.7%FY2026 +19.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +24.7% +13.6% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.11BFY2027 $3.03BFY2026 $1.39BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.4%FY2027 +3.3%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.0% +2.5% +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCVSABFAMSTRA
Held by institutions 98.0% 100.0% 99.0%
Institutions holding 375 384 291
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.0% -1.2% +0.9%
Institutions buying 201 205 149
Institutions selling 129 150 106
Buyers to sellers 1.56 1.37 1.41

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CVSABFAMSTRA
CVSA 1.00 -0.03 0.55
BFAM -0.03 1.00 0.28
STRA 0.55 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CVSA, BFAM and STRA?

Covista (CVSA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Covista (CVSA) $4.63B, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) $3.69B, Strategic Education (STRA) $1.73B.

Which stock is cheaper, CVSA, BFAM and STRA?

Strategic Education (STRA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Covista (CVSA) 18.4x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 21.1x, Strategic Education (STRA) 12.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Strategic Education (STRA) is cheapest (Covista (CVSA) 15.4x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 13.9x, Strategic Education (STRA) 11.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Covista (CVSA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Covista (CVSA) +9.3%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) +8.5%, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Covista (CVSA) has the highest net margin (Covista (CVSA) 12.9%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 5.8%, Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5%). On return on invested capital, Covista (CVSA) leads (Covista (CVSA) 15.0%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 9.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Strategic Education (STRA) returned the most: Covista (CVSA) -13.8%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -27.0%, Strategic Education (STRA) -3.4%. Over five years, Covista (CVSA) compounded fastest (Covista (CVSA) +28.7%/yr, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -14.4%/yr, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Covista (CVSA) 0.00%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 0.00%, Strategic Education (STRA) 0.03%. Covista (CVSA) and Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Strategic Education (STRA) has been the steadiest (Covista (CVSA) 57.4%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 47.7%, Strategic Education (STRA) 36.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CVSA, BFAM and STRA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Covista (CVSA) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.