MH vs PSO vs SCHL Stock Comparison

McGraw Hill, Pearson and Scholastic Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MH McGraw Hill, Inc.
$14.42 +13.4% 1M +13.5% 1Y
Market cap
$2.69B
P/E
29.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.12B
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
4 wins
PSO Pearson Plc
$18.30 +13.5% 1M +22.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.51B
P/E
27.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins
SCHL Scholastic Corp
$38.76 +19.8% 1M +32.6% 1Y
Market cap
$736.72M
P/E
13.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.57B
Div. yield
0.03%
Publishing Communication Services
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Scholastic leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Scholastic 4, McGraw Hill 4, Pearson 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMHPSOSCHLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.69B $11.51B $736.72M PSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.0x 27.0x 13.0x SCHL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.9x 20.6x 29.1x MH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.1% — -2.5% MH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.4% — 3.6% MH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.9% — 1.2% MH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.9x — 0.8x SCHL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.5% +22.5% +32.6% SCHL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +17.0%/yr +1.7%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 60.0% 25.5% 35.4% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 41/100 56/100 SCHL

Percentile Scorecard

MHPSOSCHL

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

AxisMHPSOSCHL
Valuation 76 #14 of 54 40 #33 of 54 60 #22 of 54
Growth 71 #14 of 45 – 34 #30 of 45
Profitability 91 #5 of 43 – 52 #21 of 43
Financial Health 21 #49 of 62 72 #18 of 62 67 #21 of 62
Shareholder Returns 4 #25 of 26 12 #23 of 26 64 #10 of 26
Overall 52 41 56
  • MH ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • PSO ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • SCHL ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMHPSOSCHLSPY
1 month +13.4%+13.5%+19.8% -0.8%
3 months +40.0%+9.3%-4.9% +3.5%
6 months +15.2%+25.7%-4.8% +7.0%
Year to date -12.6%+30.3%+30.8% +12.2%
1 year +13.5%+22.5%+32.6% +13.0%
3 years —+65.2%+4.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year —+18.2%+1.4% +23.1%
5 years —+119.2%+8.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+17.0%+1.7% +11.0%
10 years —+101.3%+1.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+7.2%+0.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMHPSOSCHLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 60.0%25.5%35.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.0%29.1%37.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.150.350.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.230.880.92 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.4%-32.1%-66.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.8%-0.5%-18.1% -1.8%
52-week high $17.99$18.40$47.34 $779.14
52-week low $9.11$12.06$27.00 $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.

MultipleMHPSOSCHL
P/E now vs peer median 29.8xmedian 18.4x 27.0xmedian 18.4x 12.9xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 0.6x 2.5xmedian 0.6x 0.4xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.5xmedian 11.0x —median 11.0x 7.7xmedian 11.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 9.1x 14.1xmedian 9.1x -47.4xmedian 9.1x
P/B now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 1.6x 2.4xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 —median 0.44 0.72median 0.44

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 monthsMHPSOSCHL
Revenue $2.12B – $1.57B
Gross profit $1.73B – $888.70M
Operating income $294.84M – $15.20M
Net income $92.68M – $56.60M
Free cash flow $335.92M – -$14.40M
EPS (diluted) $0.48 – $2.99
Cash & equivalents $193.64M $448.46M $106.80M
Total debt $2.57B $1.99B $184.80M
Shares (diluted) 191.31M 660.30M 18.90M
Enterprise value $1.26B $8.62B $291.12M

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
MetricMHPSOSCHL
P/E 29.8x 27.0x 12.9x
P/FCF 8.2x 14.1x -47.4x
P/Operating cash flow 6.4x – 17.9x
P/S 1.3x 2.5x 0.4x
P/B 3.5x 2.4x 1.0x
P/Tangible book -7.2x 3.1x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA 8.5x – 7.7x
EV/EBIT 17.4x – 50.0x
EV/Revenue 2.4x – 0.5x
EV/FCF 15.3x – -52.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.0x – 20.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – – 0.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMHPSOSCHL
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.1% – -2.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – -2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.1% – -1.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – -0.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -9.9% – 25.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – -38.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 222.1% – 639.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – -0.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 206.4% – 818.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – – 18.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -22.5% – -54.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -39.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -30.2% – -134.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -28.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMHPSOSCHL
Gross margin 81.7% – 56.5%
EBITDA margin 28.6% – 6.2%
Operating margin 13.9% – 1.0%
Pretax margin 3.5% – 5.6%
Net margin 4.4% – 3.6%
FCF margin 15.9% – -0.9%
Operating cash flow margin 20.2% – 2.4%
Return on equity 12.2% – 8.0%
Return on assets 1.7% – 3.3%
Return on invested capital 8.9% – 1.2%
Return on capital employed 6.9% – 1.3%
Asset turnover 0.4x – 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 4.6x – 0.7x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMHPSOSCHL
Debt / assets 47.9% 22.9% 10.7%
Debt / equity 3.3x 0.4x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.9x – 0.8x
Debt / FCF 7.7x – -12.8x
Liabilities / assets 85.3% 43.3% 61.9%
Equity / assets 14.7% 56.7% 38.1%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 0.8x 2.0x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.3x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.57 – 2.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMHPSOSCHL
Dividend yield – 1.9% 2.2%
Net buyback yield -14.4% – 38.9%
Shareholder yield -14.4% 1.9% 41.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 32.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – -129.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -15.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -11.7%

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.

ConsensusMHPSOSCHL
Forward P/E 6.9xFY2026 20.6xFY2026 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.08FY2026 $0.89FY2026 $1.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.0%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 -28.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +2.4% +23.6% +78.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.09BFY2026 $5.14BFY2026 $1.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.5%FY2026 +6.8%FY2026 +5.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% +6.6% +4.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMHPSOSCHL
Held by institutions 100.0% 4.1% 73.2%
Institutions holding 111 213 226
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.3% +3.0% -8.2%
Institutions buying 60 138 109
Institutions selling 36 36 89
Buyers to sellers 1.67 3.83 1.22

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.

MHPSOSCHL
MH 1.00 0.40 0.06
PSO 0.40 1.00 0.07
SCHL 0.06 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MH, PSO and SCHL?

Pearson (PSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: McGraw Hill (MH) $2.69B, Pearson (PSO) $11.51B, Scholastic (SCHL) $736.72M.

Which stock is cheaper, MH, PSO and SCHL?

Scholastic (SCHL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (McGraw Hill (MH) 29.0x, Pearson (PSO) 27.0x, Scholastic (SCHL) 13.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, McGraw Hill (MH) is cheapest (McGraw Hill (MH) 6.9x, Pearson (PSO) 20.6x, Scholastic (SCHL) 29.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

McGraw Hill (MH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: McGraw Hill (MH) +0.1%, Scholastic (SCHL) -2.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

McGraw Hill (MH) has the highest net margin (McGraw Hill (MH) 4.4%, Scholastic (SCHL) 3.6%). On return on invested capital, McGraw Hill (MH) leads (McGraw Hill (MH) 8.9%, Scholastic (SCHL) 1.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Scholastic (SCHL) returned the most: McGraw Hill (MH) +13.5%, Pearson (PSO) +22.5%, Scholastic (SCHL) +32.6%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (Pearson (PSO) +17.0%/yr, Scholastic (SCHL) +1.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: McGraw Hill (MH) 0.00%, Pearson (PSO) 0.00%, Scholastic (SCHL) 0.03%. McGraw Hill (MH) and Pearson (PSO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pearson (PSO) has been the steadiest (McGraw Hill (MH) 60.0%, Pearson (PSO) 25.5%, Scholastic (SCHL) 35.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MH, PSO and SCHL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Scholastic (SCHL) 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.