PSO vs MH vs TDAY Stock Comparison

Pearson, McGraw Hill and Usa Today 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
4 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
5 wins
TDAY USA TODAY Co., Inc.
$6.55 +1.9% 1M +78.0% 1Y
Market cap
$961.66M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.23B
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

McGraw Hill leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (McGraw Hill 5, Pearson 4, Usa Today 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPSOMHTDAYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.22B $2.70B $961.66M PSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.0x 29.1x -23.9x PSO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.8x 6.8x 23.4x MH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +0.1% -6.7% MH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 4.4% -1.8% MH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 8.9% 0.0% MH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.9x 1.6x TDAY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.98% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.4% +11.4% +78.0% TDAY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.0%/yr — +2.2%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.7% 59.9% 49.2% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 52/100 46/100 MH

Percentile Scorecard

PSOMHTDAY

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

AxisPSOMHTDAY
Valuation 42 #31 of 53 75 #14 of 53 83 #10 of 53
Growth – 70 #14 of 44 42 #26 of 44
Profitability – 90 #5 of 42 59 #18 of 42
Financial Health 72 #18 of 61 22 #48 of 61 40 #37 of 61
Shareholder Returns 12 #23 of 26 4 #25 of 26 8 #24 of 26
Overall 42 52 46
  • PSO ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • MH ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • TDAY 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

PeriodPSOMHTDAYSPY
1 month +9.4%+11.0%+1.9% -0.2%
3 months +1.2%+27.9%-24.3% +3.9%
6 months +22.2%+15.5%-11.4% +8.2%
Year to date +25.6%-14.4%+27.2% +12.9%
1 year +19.4%+11.4%+78.0% +12.3%
3 years +59.2%—+191.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +16.8%—+42.8% +23.3%
5 years +109.8%—+11.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year +16.0%—+2.2% +10.9%
10 years +95.3%—-56.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +6.9%—-8.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePSOMHTDAYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.7%59.9%49.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.5%53.9%40.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.330.140.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.760.191.59 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.1%-49.4%-79.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.1%-21.5%-27.6% -1.2%
52-week high $18.40$17.99$9.05 $779.14
52-week low $12.06$9.11$3.68 $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.

MultiplePSOMHTDAY
P/E now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 18.4x 29.1xmedian 18.4x -23.9xmedian 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 4.0xmedian 10.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 9.0x 8.0xmedian 9.0x 15.6xmedian 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.5x 3.4xmedian 1.5x 6.3xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 —median 0.44 3.39median 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 monthsPSOMHTDAY
Revenue – $2.12B $2.23B
Gross profit – $1.73B $880.46M
Operating income – $294.84M $252.85M
Net income – $92.68M -$40.28M
Free cash flow – $335.92M $61.59M
EPS (diluted) – $0.48 $-0.21
Cash & equivalents $448.46M $193.64M $86.66M
Total debt $1.99B $2.57B $710.15M
Shares (diluted) 660.30M 191.31M 193.95M
Enterprise value $8.35B $1.28B $623.89M

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
MetricPSOMHTDAY
P/E 26.0x 29.1x -23.9x
P/FCF 13.6x 8.0x 15.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.3x 8.5x
P/S 2.4x 1.3x 0.4x
P/B 2.3x 3.4x 6.3x
P/Tangible book 3.0x -7.0x -6.3x
EV/EBITDA – 8.4x 4.0x
EV/EBIT – 17.2x 6.3x
EV/Revenue – 2.4x 0.7x
EV/FCF – 15.1x 25.7x
EV/Operating cash flow – 11.9x 14.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – – 3.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPSOMHTDAY
Revenue growth (1Y) – 0.1% -6.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – -7.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 2.1% -4.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – -4.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -9.9% 329.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 122.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – 222.1% -134.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – -19.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 206.4% -135.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – – -7.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -22.5% 14.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 7.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -30.2% 42.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 4.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPSOMHTDAY
Gross margin – 81.7% 39.5%
EBITDA margin – 28.6% 17.7%
Operating margin – 13.9% 11.3%
Pretax margin – 3.5% 3.0%
Net margin – 4.4% -1.8%
FCF margin – 15.9% 2.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 20.2% 5.1%
Return on equity – 12.2% -27.3%
Return on assets – 1.7% -2.2%
Return on invested capital – 8.9% 0.0%
Return on capital employed – 6.9% 19.5%
Asset turnover – 0.4x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 4.6x -2.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.8% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPSOMHTDAY
Debt / assets 22.9% 47.9% 39.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 3.3x 4.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.9x 1.6x
Debt / FCF – 7.7x 11.5x
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 85.3% 91.4%
Equity / assets 56.7% 14.7% 8.6%
Interest coverage – – 2.8x
Current ratio 2.0x 0.8x 0.8x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 0.56 1.20

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPSOMHTDAY
Dividend yield 2.0% – –
Net buyback yield – -14.7% 0.3%
Shareholder yield 2.0% -14.7% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusPSOMHTDAY
Forward P/E 19.8xFY2026 6.8xFY2026 23.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.89FY2026 $2.08FY2026 $0.28FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.5%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026 +366.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.6% +2.4% +3.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $2.09BFY2026 $2.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026 -9.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.6% +10.5% +8.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPSOMHTDAY
Held by institutions 4.1% 100.0% 95.2%
Institutions holding 213 111 222
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% -2.3% +0.2%
Institutions buying 138 60 108
Institutions selling 36 36 60
Buyers to sellers 3.83 1.67 1.80

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.

PSOMHTDAY
PSO 1.00 0.40 0.19
MH 0.40 1.00 0.07
TDAY 0.19 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PSO, MH and TDAY?

Pearson (PSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Pearson (PSO) $11.22B, McGraw Hill (MH) $2.70B, Usa Today (TDAY) $961.66M.

Which stock is cheaper, PSO, MH and TDAY?

Pearson (PSO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Pearson (PSO) 26.0x, McGraw Hill (MH) 29.1x, Usa Today (TDAY) -23.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, McGraw Hill (MH) is cheapest (Pearson (PSO) 19.8x, McGraw Hill (MH) 6.8x, Usa Today (TDAY) 23.4x). 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%, Usa Today (TDAY) -6.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

McGraw Hill (MH) has the highest net margin (McGraw Hill (MH) 4.4%, Usa Today (TDAY) -1.8%). On return on invested capital, McGraw Hill (MH) leads (McGraw Hill (MH) 8.9%, Usa Today (TDAY) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Usa Today (TDAY) returned the most: Pearson (PSO) +19.4%, McGraw Hill (MH) +11.4%, Usa Today (TDAY) +78.0%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (Pearson (PSO) +16.0%/yr, Usa Today (TDAY) +2.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Pearson (PSO) 1.98%, Usa Today (TDAY) 0.00%. McGraw Hill (MH) and Usa Today (TDAY) 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%, Usa Today (TDAY) 49.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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