STRA vs GHC vs UTI Stock Comparison

Strategic Education, Graham Holdings and Universal Technical Institute Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
STRA Strategic Education, Inc.
$79.84 +3.9% 1M -4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.68B
P/E
12.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
0.03%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
GHC Graham Holdings Co
$1,188.00 +2.8% 1M +14.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.00B
P/E
9.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.07B
Div. yield
0.04%
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Graham Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Graham Holdings 7, Universal Technical Institute 3, Strategic Education 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSTRAGHCUTILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.68B $5.00B $1.20B GHC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.5x 9.2x 35.1x GHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.8x 15.6x 36.3x STRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.5% +4.8% +9.1% UTI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.5% 10.7% 3.9% GHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 3.5% 6.9% UTI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.9x -0.1x GHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.04% 0.00% GHC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.9% +14.9% -34.9% GHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.7%/yr +15.3%/yr +26.2%/yr UTI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.1% 23.3% 72.6% GHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 79/100 40/100 39/100 STRA

Percentile Scorecard

STRAGHCUTI

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

AxisSTRAGHCUTI
Valuation 84 #6 of 33 69 #11 of 33 22 #26 of 33
Growth 86 #5 of 30 28 #22 of 30 59 #13 of 30
Profitability 61 #12 of 29 25 #22 of 29 29 #21 of 29
Financial Health 71 #12 of 39 63 #15 of 39 47 #21 of 39
Shareholder Returns 92 #2 of 14 15 #12 of 14 –
Overall 79 40 39
  • STRA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • GHC ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • UTI ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSTRAGHCUTISPY
1 month +3.9%+2.8%+9.2% -0.2%
3 months -1.9%-2.1%-43.3% +3.9%
6 months +2.7%+0.9%-37.6% +8.2%
Year to date -0.4%+8.1%-15.2% +12.9%
1 year -4.9%+14.9%-34.9% +12.3%
3 years -0.5%+110.0%+163.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year -0.2%+28.1%+38.2% +23.3%
5 years +14.5%+103.5%+220.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +2.7%+15.3%+26.2% +10.9%
10 years +37.0%+150.1%+1,311.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +3.2%+9.6%+30.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSTRAGHCUTISPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.1%23.3%72.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.5%23.4%90.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.020.280.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.140.64-0.48 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.3%-20.3%-63.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.9%-4.1%-56.7% -1.2%
52-week high $87.62$1,238.69$51.19 $779.14
52-week low $72.19$1,012.13$18.46 $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.

MultipleSTRAGHCUTI
P/E now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 15.2x 9.4xmedian 15.2x 35.6xmedian 15.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x 1.4xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 9.8x 12.0xmedian 9.8x 14.9xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 10.5xmedian 14.5x 20.4xmedian 14.5x -53.4xmedian 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 2.0x 1.1xmedian 2.0x 3.5xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.21median 0.35 0.23median 0.35 0.25median 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 monthsSTRAGHCUTI
Revenue $1.29B $5.07B $883.60M
Gross profit – $1.52B $425.13M
Operating income $180.24M $256.19M $44.26M
Net income $134.51M $550.25M $34.30M
Free cash flow $168.59M $247.96M -$22.87M
EPS (diluted) $6.19 $125.75 $0.61
Cash & equivalents $123.76M $156.77M $130.06M
Total debt – $900.37M $160.03M
Shares (diluted) 21.74M 4.31M 55.94M
Enterprise value $1.07B $91.27M $539.05M

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
MetricSTRAGHCUTI
P/E 12.7x 9.4x 35.6x
P/FCF 10.5x 20.4x -53.4x
P/Operating cash flow 8.2x 15.5x 16.4x
P/S 1.4x 1.0x 1.4x
P/B 1.1x 1.1x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 1.1x 3.8x
EV/EBITDA 7.2x 12.0x 14.9x
EV/EBIT 9.1x 18.4x 27.4x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 0.9x 1.4x
EV/FCF 9.8x 19.0x -52.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.6x 14.4x 16.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.21 0.23 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSTRAGHCUTI
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.5% 4.8% 9.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 6.4% 17.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 1.0% 5.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.1% 18.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 14.1% -6.6% -47.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 52.4% 41.6% 45.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 16.8% -20.5% -45.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 54.3% 36.2% 59.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 26.4% -19.4% -45.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 59.4% 40.4% 141.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 29.8% -33.9% -30.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 35.8% 18.1% 30.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 35.5% -40.8% -130.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 52.2% 32.3% 3.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSTRAGHCUTI
Gross margin – 29.9% 48.1%
EBITDA margin 17.7% 7.8% 9.2%
Operating margin 14.0% 5.1% 5.0%
Pretax margin 14.3% 14.1% 5.1%
Net margin 10.5% 10.7% 3.9%
FCF margin 13.1% 4.9% -2.6%
Operating cash flow margin 16.8% 6.4% 8.4%
Return on equity 8.2% 11.5% 10.0%
Return on assets 6.5% 6.7% 3.9%
Return on invested capital – 3.5% 6.9%
Return on capital employed 10.0% 3.7% 6.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 0.6x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.7% 0.1% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSTRAGHCUTI
Debt / assets – 11.1% 17.8%
Debt / equity – 0.2x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.9x -0.1x
Debt / FCF – 3.6x -7.0x
Liabilities / assets 21.0% 41.1% 61.7%
Equity / assets 79.0% 58.9% 38.3%
Interest coverage – 4.9x 11.4x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.9x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.5x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.5x 1.0x 0.9x
Altman Z-score 3.56 3.27 2.73

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSTRAGHCUTI
Dividend yield 3.0% 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 8.6% 2.4% –
Shareholder yield 11.6% 3.0% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 41.1% 35.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 32.8% 77.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -5.8% 528.1% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -2.1% 83.8% –

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.

ConsensusSTRAGHCUTI
Forward P/E 10.8xFY2026 15.6xFY2026 36.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.38FY2026 $76.14FY2026 $0.61FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +19.4%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026 -46.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.7% -16.0% +23.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.39BFY2026 $4.97BFY2026 $860.77MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.2%FY2026 +1.3%FY2026 +3.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% +2.0% +16.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSTRAGHCUTI
Held by institutions 99.0% 83.3% 100.0%
Institutions holding 291 337 264
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.9% +0.4% +9.0%
Institutions buying 149 149 157
Institutions selling 106 110 77
Buyers to sellers 1.41 1.35 2.04

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.

STRAGHCUTI
STRA 1.00 0.42 0.41
GHC 0.42 1.00 0.19
UTI 0.41 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, STRA, GHC and UTI?

Graham Holdings (GHC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Strategic Education (STRA) $1.68B, Graham Holdings (GHC) $5.00B, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) $1.20B.

Which stock is cheaper, STRA, GHC and UTI?

Graham Holdings (GHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Strategic Education (STRA) 12.5x, Graham Holdings (GHC) 9.2x, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) 35.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Strategic Education (STRA) is cheapest (Strategic Education (STRA) 10.8x, Graham Holdings (GHC) 15.6x, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) 36.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Universal Technical Institute (UTI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Strategic Education (STRA) +3.5%, Graham Holdings (GHC) +4.8%, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) +9.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Graham Holdings (GHC) has the highest net margin (Strategic Education (STRA) 10.5%, Graham Holdings (GHC) 10.7%, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) 3.9%). On return on invested capital, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) leads (Graham Holdings (GHC) 3.5%, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) 6.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Graham Holdings (GHC) returned the most: Strategic Education (STRA) -4.9%, Graham Holdings (GHC) +14.9%, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) -34.9%. Over five years, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) compounded fastest (Strategic Education (STRA) +2.7%/yr, Graham Holdings (GHC) +15.3%/yr, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) +26.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Graham Holdings (GHC) has the highest dividend yield: Strategic Education (STRA) 0.03%, Graham Holdings (GHC) 0.04%, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) 0.00%. Universal Technical Institute (UTI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Graham Holdings (GHC) has been the steadiest (Strategic Education (STRA) 36.1%, Graham Holdings (GHC) 23.3%, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) 72.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, STRA, GHC and UTI?

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