LAUR vs STRA vs EDU Stock Comparison

Laureate Education, Strategic Education and New Oriental Education & Technology Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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LAUR Laureate Education, Inc.
$36.36 -3.3% 1M +21.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.01B
P/E
15.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.83B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
4 wins
STRA Strategic Education, Inc.
$77.55 +2.2% 1M -7.5% 1Y
Market cap
$1.72B
P/E
12.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
3.09%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Strategic Education leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Strategic Education 4, Laureate Education 4, New Oriental Education & Technology 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLAURSTRAEDULeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.01B $1.72B $7.85B EDU
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.7x 12.3x 15.8x STRA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.2x 10.5x 10.8x STRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.9% +3.5% +20.5% EDU
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.6% 10.5% 8.4% LAUR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 24.7% — 14.9% LAUR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.1x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 3.09% 2.37% STRA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +21.8% -7.5% -13.5% LAUR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.0%/yr +2.6%/yr +19.9%/yr EDU
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.2% 36.2% 37.5% LAUR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 79/100 71/100 STRA

Percentile Scorecard

LAURSTRAEDU

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

AxisLAURSTRAEDU
Valuation 31 #23 of 33 84 #6 of 33 78 #8 of 33
Growth 79 #7 of 30 86 #5 of 30 72 #9 of 30
Profitability 93 #3 of 28 59 #12 of 28 67 #10 of 28
Financial Health 56 #17 of 37 72 #11 of 37 69 #12 of 37
Shareholder Returns 85 #3 of 14 92 #2 of 14 69 #5 of 14
Overall 69 79 71
  • LAUR ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • STRA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • EDU ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLAURSTRAEDUSPY
1 month -3.3%+2.2%-9.3% +0.9%
3 months -5.3%-11.5%-13.5% +5.9%
6 months +15.1%-1.8%-5.0% +8.5%
Year to date +8.0%-3.3%-7.9% +13.3%
1 year +21.8%-7.5%-13.5% +12.4%
3 years +155.4%-3.3%-21.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +36.7%-1.1%-7.7% +23.5%
5 years +109.9%+13.7%+147.2% +68.2%
5 years, per year +16.0%+2.6%+19.9% +11.0%
10 years —+37.5%-1.8% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+3.2%-0.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureLAURSTRAEDUSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.2%36.2%37.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.3%41.7%38.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.28-0.020.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.66-0.21-0.36 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.1%-41.3%-62.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.1%-11.5%-20.2% -0.9%
52-week high $40.46$87.62$63.51 $779.14
52-week low $28.88$72.19$44.44 $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.

MultipleLAURSTRAEDU
P/E now vs peer median 15.7xmedian 14.9x 12.3xmedian 14.9x 15.8xmedian 14.9x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.2x 1.3xmedian 1.2x 1.3xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.5xmedian 9.3x 7.0xmedian 9.3x —median 9.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.5xmedian 14.5x 10.2xmedian 14.5x 7.6xmedian 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 1.8x 1.1xmedian 1.8x 1.7xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.29median 0.35 0.21median 0.35 0.63median 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 monthsLAURSTRAEDU
Revenue $1.83B $1.29B $6.01B
Gross profit $498.85M – $634.59M
Operating income $446.85M $180.24M $707.08M
Net income $321.53M $134.51M $552.22M
Free cash flow $286.58M $168.59M $1.03B
EPS (diluted) $2.30 $6.19 $3.22
Cash & equivalents $161.67M $123.76M $1.75B
Total debt $223.17M – $297.25M
Shares (diluted) 139.94M 21.74M 157.85M
Enterprise value $4.30B $1.12B -$3.18B

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
MetricLAURSTRAEDU
P/E 15.7x 12.3x 15.8x
P/FCF 17.5x 10.2x 7.6x
P/Operating cash flow 12.3x 8.0x 7.6x
P/S 2.7x 1.3x 1.3x
P/B 4.4x 1.1x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 5.1x 1.2x 1.7x
EV/EBITDA 9.5x 7.0x –
EV/EBIT 11.3x 8.8x 7.7x
EV/Revenue 2.8x 1.2x 0.9x
EV/FCF 17.7x 9.5x 5.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.4x 7.4x 5.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.29 0.21 0.63

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLAURSTRAEDU
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.9% 3.5% 20.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.4% 6.1% 21.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 18.0% – 1,976,823%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.5% – 28.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 18.7% 14.1% 58.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 52.4% 30.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 25.1% 16.8% 45.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 47.6% 54.3% 19.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 32.4% 26.4% 42.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 53.6% 59.4% 25.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 39.9% 29.8% 13.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.4% 35.8% -2.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 25.7% 35.5% 13.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.6% 52.2% -2.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLAURSTRAEDU
Gross margin 27.3% – 10.6%
EBITDA margin 29.1% 17.7% –
Operating margin 24.4% 14.0% 11.8%
Pretax margin 24.2% 14.3% 11.8%
Net margin 17.6% 10.5% 8.4%
FCF margin 15.7% 13.1% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin 22.3% 16.8% 17.1%
Return on equity 29.4% 8.2% 12.4%
Return on assets 13.7% 6.5% 6.3%
Return on invested capital 24.7% – 14.9%
Return on capital employed 24.3% 10.0% 13.7%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.6x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLAURSTRAEDU
Debt / assets 9.2% – 3.4%
Debt / equity 0.2x – 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.1x – –
Debt / FCF 0.8x – 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 52.9% 21.0% 48.0%
Equity / assets 47.1% 79.0% 52.0%
Interest coverage 35.9x – –
Current ratio 0.7x 1.1x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.9x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.5x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.86 3.49 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLAURSTRAEDU
Dividend yield – 3.1% 2.4%
Net buyback yield 6.6% 8.8% –
Shareholder yield 6.6% 11.9% 2.4%
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.

ConsensusLAURSTRAEDU
Forward P/E 18.2xFY2026 10.5xFY2026 10.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.00FY2026 $7.38FY2026 $4.68FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.3%FY2026 +19.4%FY2026 +31.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.0% +18.7% +11.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.03BFY2026 $1.39BFY2026 $6.34BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.6%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026 +12.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.4% +1.4% +10.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLAURSTRAEDU
Held by institutions 95.8% 99.0% 31.4%
Institutions holding 337 291 170
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.3% +0.9% -5.3%
Institutions buying 161 149 80
Institutions selling 144 106 65
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.41 1.23

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.

LAURSTRAEDU
LAUR 1.00 0.49 0.18
STRA 0.49 1.00 0.25
EDU 0.18 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LAUR, STRA and EDU?

New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) is the largest by market capitalisation: Laureate Education (LAUR) $5.01B, Strategic Education (STRA) $1.72B, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) $7.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, LAUR, STRA and EDU?

Strategic Education (STRA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Laureate Education (LAUR) 15.7x, Strategic Education (STRA) 12.3x, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) 15.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Strategic Education (STRA) is cheapest (Laureate Education (LAUR) 18.2x, Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5x, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) 10.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Laureate Education (LAUR) +17.9%, Strategic Education (STRA) +3.5%, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) +20.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Laureate Education (LAUR) has the highest net margin (Laureate Education (LAUR) 17.6%, Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5%, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Laureate Education (LAUR) leads (Laureate Education (LAUR) 24.7%, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) 14.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Laureate Education (LAUR) returned the most: Laureate Education (LAUR) +21.8%, Strategic Education (STRA) -7.5%, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) -13.5%. Over five years, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) compounded fastest (Laureate Education (LAUR) +16.0%/yr, Strategic Education (STRA) +2.6%/yr, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) +19.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Strategic Education (STRA) has the highest dividend yield: Laureate Education (LAUR) 0.00%, Strategic Education (STRA) 3.09%, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) 2.37%. Laureate Education (LAUR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Laureate Education (LAUR) has been the steadiest (Laureate Education (LAUR) 33.2%, Strategic Education (STRA) 36.2%, New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU) 37.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LAUR, STRA and EDU?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Strategic Education (STRA) leads on 4. 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.