PSO vs MH Stock Comparison

Pearson and McGraw Hill Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
4 wins
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
2 wins

Head to Head

6 decided of 12

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

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

Percentile Scorecard

PSOMH

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

AxisPSOMH
Valuation 40 #33 of 54 76 #14 of 54
Growth – 71 #14 of 45
Profitability – 91 #5 of 43
Financial Health 72 #18 of 62 21 #49 of 62
Shareholder Returns 12 #23 of 26 4 #25 of 26
Overall 41 52
  • PSO ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • MH 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

PeriodPSOMHSPY
1 month +13.5%+13.4% -0.8%
3 months +9.3%+40.0% +3.5%
6 months +25.7%+15.2% +7.0%
Year to date +30.3%-12.6% +12.2%
1 year +22.5%+13.5% +13.0%
3 years +65.2%— +86.3%
3 years, per year +18.2%— +23.1%
5 years +119.2%— +68.6%
5 years, per year +17.0%— +11.0%
10 years +101.3%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +7.2%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePSOMHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.5%60.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.1%54.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.350.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.880.23 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.1%-49.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.5%-19.8% -1.8%
52-week high $18.40$17.99 $779.14
52-week low $12.06$9.11 $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.

MultiplePSOMH
P/E now vs peer median 27.0xmedian 18.4x 29.8xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 0.6x 1.3xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.0x 8.5xmedian 11.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 9.1x 8.2xmedian 9.1x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.6x 3.5xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 —median 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 monthsPSOMH
Revenue – $2.12B
Gross profit – $1.73B
Operating income – $294.84M
Net income – $92.68M
Free cash flow – $335.92M
EPS (diluted) – $0.48
Cash & equivalents $448.46M $193.64M
Total debt $1.99B $2.57B
Shares (diluted) 660.30M 191.31M
Enterprise value $8.62B $1.27B

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
MetricPSOMH
P/E 27.0x 29.8x
P/FCF 14.1x 8.2x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.4x
P/S 2.5x 1.3x
P/B 2.4x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 3.1x -7.2x
EV/EBITDA – 8.5x
EV/EBIT – 17.4x
EV/Revenue – 2.4x
EV/FCF – 15.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 12.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPSOMH
Revenue growth (1Y) – 0.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 2.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – -9.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – –
Net income growth (1Y) – 222.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – –
EPS growth (1Y) – 206.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -22.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -30.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPSOMH
Gross margin – 81.7%
EBITDA margin – 28.6%
Operating margin – 13.9%
Pretax margin – 3.5%
Net margin – 4.4%
FCF margin – 15.9%
Operating cash flow margin – 20.2%
Return on equity – 12.2%
Return on assets – 1.7%
Return on invested capital – 8.9%
Return on capital employed – 6.9%
Asset turnover – 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 4.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.8%

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPSOMH
Dividend yield 1.9% –
Net buyback yield – -14.4%
Shareholder yield 1.9% -14.4%
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.

ConsensusPSOMH
Forward P/E 20.6xFY2026 6.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.89FY2026 $2.08FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.5%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.6% +2.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $2.09BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.6% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

PSOMH
PSO 1.00 0.40
MH 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PSO and MH?

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

Which stock is cheaper, PSO and MH?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Pearson (PSO) returned the most: Pearson (PSO) +22.5%, McGraw Hill (MH) +13.5%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

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

Do PSO and MH move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.40, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, PSO and MH?

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