PSO vs MH vs SCHL Stock Comparison

Pearson, McGraw Hill and Scholastic Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PSO Pearson Plc
$17.64 +9.4% 1M +19.4% 1Y
Market cap
$11.22B
P/E
26.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
1.98%
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins
MH McGraw Hill, Inc.
$14.12 +11.0% 1M +11.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.70B
P/E
29.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.12B
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
4 wins
SCHL Scholastic Corp
$39.14 +21.0% 1M +35.2% 1Y
Market cap
$688.86M
P/E
13.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.57B
Div. yield
2.17%
Publishing Communication Services
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Scholastic leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Scholastic 5, McGraw Hill 4, Pearson 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPSOMHSCHLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.22B $2.70B $688.86M PSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.0x 29.1x 13.1x SCHL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.8x 6.8x 29.4x 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 1.98% — 2.17% SCHL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.4% +11.4% +35.2% SCHL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.0%/yr — +1.7%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.7% 59.9% 35.3% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 52/100 55/100 SCHL

Percentile Scorecard

PSOMHSCHL

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

AxisPSOMHSCHL
Valuation 42 #31 of 53 75 #14 of 53 60 #22 of 53
Growth – 70 #14 of 44 33 #30 of 44
Profitability – 90 #5 of 42 51 #21 of 42
Financial Health 72 #18 of 61 22 #48 of 61 67 #21 of 61
Shareholder Returns 12 #23 of 26 4 #25 of 26 64 #10 of 26
Overall 42 52 55
  • PSO ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • MH ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • SCHL ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPSOMHSCHLSPY
1 month +9.4%+11.0%+21.0% -0.2%
3 months +1.2%+27.9%-3.7% +3.9%
6 months +22.2%+15.5%-4.3% +8.2%
Year to date +25.6%-14.4%+32.1% +12.9%
1 year +19.4%+11.4%+35.2% +12.3%
3 years +59.2%—+5.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year +16.8%—+1.7% +23.3%
5 years +109.8%—+8.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +16.0%—+1.7% +10.9%
10 years +95.3%—+2.8% +261.1%
10 years, per year +6.9%—+0.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePSOMHSCHLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.7%59.9%35.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.5%53.9%37.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.330.140.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.760.191.00 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.1%-49.4%-66.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.1%-21.5%-17.3% -1.2%
52-week high $18.40$17.99$47.34 $779.14
52-week low $12.06$9.11$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.

MultiplePSOMHSCHL
P/E now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 18.4x 29.1xmedian 18.4x 13.1xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 0.6x 1.3xmedian 0.6x 0.4xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 10.5x 8.4xmedian 10.5x 7.8xmedian 10.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 9.0x 8.0xmedian 9.0x -47.8xmedian 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.5x 3.4xmedian 1.5x 1.0xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 —median 0.44 0.73median 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 monthsPSOMHSCHL
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 $448.46M $193.64M $106.80M
Total debt $1.99B $2.57B $184.80M
Shares (diluted) 660.30M 191.31M 18.90M
Enterprise value $8.35B $1.28B $243.26M

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
MetricPSOMHSCHL
P/E 26.0x 29.1x 13.1x
P/FCF 13.6x 8.0x -47.8x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.3x 18.1x
P/S 2.4x 1.3x 0.4x
P/B 2.3x 3.4x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 3.0x -7.0x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA – 8.4x 7.8x
EV/EBIT – 17.2x 50.5x
EV/Revenue – 2.4x 0.5x
EV/FCF – 15.1x -53.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 11.9x 20.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – – 0.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPSOMHSCHL
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
MetricPSOMHSCHL
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
MetricPSOMHSCHL
Debt / assets 22.9% 47.9% 10.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 3.3x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.9x 0.8x
Debt / FCF – 7.7x -12.8x
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 85.3% 61.9%
Equity / assets 56.7% 14.7% 38.1%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 2.0x 0.8x 1.3x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 0.56 2.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPSOMHSCHL
Dividend yield 2.0% – 2.2%
Net buyback yield – -14.7% 38.5%
Shareholder yield 2.0% -14.7% 40.7%
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.

ConsensusPSOMHSCHL
Forward P/E 19.8xFY2026 6.8xFY2026 29.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.89FY2026 $2.08FY2026 $1.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.5%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026 -28.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.6% +2.4% +78.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $2.09BFY2026 $1.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026 +5.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.6% +10.5% +4.8%

Institutional Ownership

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

PSOMHSCHL
PSO 1.00 0.40 0.06
MH 0.40 1.00 0.06
SCHL 0.06 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PSO, MH and SCHL?

Pearson (PSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Pearson (PSO) $11.22B, McGraw Hill (MH) $2.70B, Scholastic (SCHL) $688.86M.

Which stock is cheaper, PSO, MH and SCHL?

Scholastic (SCHL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Pearson (PSO) 26.0x, McGraw Hill (MH) 29.1x, Scholastic (SCHL) 13.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, McGraw Hill (MH) is cheapest (Pearson (PSO) 19.8x, McGraw Hill (MH) 6.8x, Scholastic (SCHL) 29.4x). 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: Pearson (PSO) +19.4%, McGraw Hill (MH) +11.4%, Scholastic (SCHL) +35.2%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (Pearson (PSO) +16.0%/yr, Scholastic (SCHL) +1.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Scholastic (SCHL) has the highest dividend yield: Pearson (PSO) 1.98%, Scholastic (SCHL) 2.17%. McGraw Hill (MH) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pearson (PSO) has been the steadiest (Pearson (PSO) 25.7%, McGraw Hill (MH) 59.9%, Scholastic (SCHL) 35.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PSO, MH 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 5. 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.