STRA vs CVSA vs LAUR Stock Comparison

Strategic Education, Covista and Laureate Education Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
STRA Strategic Education, Inc.
$79.84 +3.9% 1M -4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.77B
P/E
12.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
3.01%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
3 wins
CVSA Covista Inc.
$129.22 +7.0% 1M -16.0% 1Y
Market cap
$4.40B
P/E
18.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
1 win
LAUR Laureate Education, Inc.
$37.64 +0.6% 1M +25.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.18B
P/E
16.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.83B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Laureate Education leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Laureate Education 7, Strategic Education 3, Covista 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSTRACVSALAURLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.77B $4.40B $5.18B LAUR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.7x 18.0x 16.3x STRA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.8x 15.1x 18.8x STRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.5% +9.3% +17.9% LAUR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.5% 12.9% 17.6% LAUR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.0% 24.7% LAUR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.6x 0.1x LAUR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 3.01% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.9% -16.0% +25.8% LAUR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.7%/yr +27.7%/yr +17.5%/yr CVSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.1% 57.3% 33.0% LAUR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 79/100 67/100 70/100 STRA

Percentile Scorecard

STRACVSALAUR

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

AxisSTRACVSALAUR
Valuation 84 #6 of 33 53 #16 of 33 31 #23 of 33
Growth 86 #5 of 30 72 #9 of 30 83 #6 of 30
Profitability 61 #12 of 29 89 #4 of 29 93 #3 of 29
Financial Health 71 #12 of 39 45 #22 of 39 58 #17 of 39
Shareholder Returns 92 #2 of 14 77 #4 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Overall 79 67 70
  • STRA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • CVSA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • LAUR ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSTRACVSALAURSPY
1 month +3.9%+7.0%+0.6% -0.2%
3 months -1.9%+2.3%-0.2% +3.9%
6 months +2.7%+14.2%+19.9% +8.2%
Year to date -0.4%+24.9%+11.8% +12.9%
1 year -4.9%-16.0%+25.8% +12.3%
3 years -0.5%+158.5%+164.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -0.2%+37.3%+38.3% +23.3%
5 years +14.5%+239.8%+123.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +2.7%+27.7%+17.5% +10.9%
10 years +37.0%+449.9%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +3.2%+18.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSTRACVSALAURSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.1%57.3%33.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.5%73.8%33.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.02-0.060.29 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.14-0.280.78 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.3%-49.2%-46.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.9%-16.1%-7.0% -1.2%
52-week high $87.62$153.98$40.46 $779.14
52-week low $72.19$89.36$28.88 $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.

MultipleSTRACVSALAUR
P/E now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 15.2x 18.0xmedian 15.2x 16.3xmedian 15.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.3x 2.3xmedian 1.3x 2.8xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 9.8x 10.5xmedian 9.8x 9.8xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 10.5xmedian 14.5x 11.2xmedian 14.5x 18.1xmedian 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 2.0x 3.0xmedian 2.0x 4.5xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.21median 0.35 0.35median 0.35 0.30median 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 monthsSTRACVSALAUR
Revenue $1.29B $1.95B $1.83B
Gross profit – $1.12B $498.85M
Operating income $180.24M $383.38M $446.85M
Net income $134.51M $251.57M $321.53M
Free cash flow $168.59M $393.10M $286.58M
EPS (diluted) $6.19 $7.04 $2.30
Cash & equivalents $123.76M $406.32M $161.67M
Total debt – $662.85M $223.17M
Shares (diluted) 21.74M 35.72M 139.94M
Enterprise value $1.17B $3.52B $4.48B

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
MetricSTRACVSALAUR
P/E 12.7x 18.0x 16.3x
P/FCF 10.5x 11.2x 18.1x
P/Operating cash flow 8.2x 9.3x 12.7x
P/S 1.4x 2.3x 2.8x
P/B 1.1x 3.0x 4.5x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 6.4x 5.3x
EV/EBITDA 7.2x 10.5x 9.8x
EV/EBIT 9.1x 12.1x 11.7x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 2.4x 2.9x
EV/FCF 9.8x 11.8x 18.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.6x 9.9x 12.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.21 0.35 0.30

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSTRACVSALAUR
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.5% 9.3% 17.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 10.4% 10.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 10.2% 18.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 11.8% 11.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 14.1% 12.2% 18.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 52.4% 31.6% 13.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 16.8% 6.1% 25.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 54.3% 39.2% 47.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 26.4% 13.9% 32.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 59.4% 51.0% 53.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 29.8% 39.3% 39.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 35.8% 34.2% 24.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 35.5% 36.7% 25.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 52.2% 33.8% 23.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSTRACVSALAUR
Gross margin – 57.3% 27.3%
EBITDA margin 17.7% 22.6% 29.1%
Operating margin 14.0% 19.6% 24.4%
Pretax margin 14.3% 17.7% 24.2%
Net margin 10.5% 12.9% 17.6%
FCF margin 13.1% 20.1% 15.7%
Operating cash flow margin 16.8% 24.1% 22.3%
Return on equity 8.2% 17.9% 29.4%
Return on assets 6.5% 8.8% 13.7%
Return on invested capital – 15.0% 24.7%
Return on capital employed 10.0% 16.8% 24.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.7x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.9x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 1.7% 2.1% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSTRACVSALAUR
Debt / assets – 22.0% 9.2%
Debt / equity – 0.5x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.6x 0.1x
Debt / FCF – 1.7x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 21.0% 52.0% 52.9%
Equity / assets 79.0% 48.0% 47.1%
Interest coverage – 8.4x 35.9x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.1x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.0x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 3.56 4.18 3.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSTRACVSALAUR
Dividend yield 3.0% – –
Net buyback yield 8.6% 5.4% 6.4%
Shareholder yield 11.6% 5.4% 6.4%
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.

ConsensusSTRACVSALAUR
Forward P/E 10.8xFY2026 15.1xFY2027 18.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.38FY2026 $8.57FY2027 $2.00FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +19.4%FY2026 +3.9%FY2027 +16.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.7% +24.7% +17.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.39BFY2026 $2.11BFY2027 $2.03BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.2%FY2026 +8.4%FY2027 +19.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% -1.0% -4.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSTRACVSALAUR
Held by institutions 99.0% 98.0% 95.8%
Institutions holding 291 375 337
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.9% +0.0% -3.3%
Institutions buying 149 201 161
Institutions selling 106 129 144
Buyers to sellers 1.41 1.56 1.12

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.

STRACVSALAUR
STRA 1.00 0.56 0.49
CVSA 0.56 1.00 0.56
LAUR 0.49 0.56 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, STRA, CVSA and LAUR?

Laureate Education (LAUR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Strategic Education (STRA) $1.77B, Covista (CVSA) $4.40B, Laureate Education (LAUR) $5.18B.

Which stock is cheaper, STRA, CVSA and LAUR?

Strategic Education (STRA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Strategic Education (STRA) 12.7x, Covista (CVSA) 18.0x, Laureate Education (LAUR) 16.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Strategic Education (STRA) is cheapest (Strategic Education (STRA) 10.8x, Covista (CVSA) 15.1x, Laureate Education (LAUR) 18.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Laureate Education (LAUR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Strategic Education (STRA) +3.5%, Covista (CVSA) +9.3%, Laureate Education (LAUR) +17.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Laureate Education (LAUR) has the highest net margin (Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5%, Covista (CVSA) 12.9%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 17.6%). On return on invested capital, Laureate Education (LAUR) leads (Covista (CVSA) 15.0%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 24.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Laureate Education (LAUR) returned the most: Strategic Education (STRA) -4.9%, Covista (CVSA) -16.0%, Laureate Education (LAUR) +25.8%. Over five years, Covista (CVSA) compounded fastest (Strategic Education (STRA) +2.7%/yr, Covista (CVSA) +27.7%/yr, Laureate Education (LAUR) +17.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Strategic Education (STRA) 3.01%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 0.00%. Covista (CVSA) and Laureate Education (LAUR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Laureate Education (LAUR) has been the steadiest (Strategic Education (STRA) 36.1%, Covista (CVSA) 57.3%, Laureate Education (LAUR) 33.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Laureate Education (LAUR) leads on 7. 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.