Reservoir Media (NASDAQ:RSVR) vs. Pearson (NYSE:PSO) Head-To-Head Analysis

Pearson (NYSE:PSO) and Reservoir Media (NASDAQ:RSVR) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Pearson has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Reservoir Media has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Pearson and Reservoir Media, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pearson	0	2	3	1	2.83
Reservoir Media	0	2	1	0	2.33

Pearson presently has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.28%. Reservoir Media has a consensus target price of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 53.33%. Given Reservoir Media’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Reservoir Media is more favorable than Pearson.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

2.1% of Pearson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.4% of Reservoir Media shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Pearson shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 27.0% of Reservoir Media shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Pearson and Reservoir Media’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pearson	N/A	N/A	N/A
Reservoir Media	5.78%	2.62%	1.11%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pearson and Reservoir Media”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pearson	$4.54 billion	2.01	$554.61 million	N/A	N/A
Reservoir Media	$158.71 million	3.10	$7.75 million	$0.14	53.57

Pearson has higher revenue and earnings than Reservoir Media.

Summary

Reservoir Media beats Pearson on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pearson

Pearson plc offers educational courseware, assessments, and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, other European countries, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Assessment & Qualifications, Virtual Learning, English Language Learning, Workforce Skills, and Higher Education. The Assessment & Qualifications segment offers Pearson VUE, US student assessment, clinical assessment, UK GCSE, and A levels and international academic qualifications and associated courseware. The Virtual Learning segment provides virtual schools and online program management services. The English Language Learning segment offers Pearson test of English, institutional courseware, and English online solutions. The Workforce Skills offers BTEC, GED, TalentLens, Faethm, Credly, Pearson college, and apprenticeships. The Higher Education segment engages in the US, Canadian, and international higher education courseware businesses. The company was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Reservoir Media

Reservoir Media, Inc. operates as a music publishing company. It operates through two segments, Music Publishing and Recorded Music. The Music Publishing segment acquires interests in music catalogs, as well as signs songwriters. The Recorded Music segment engages in the acquisition of sound recording catalogs; discovery and development of recording artists; and marketing, distribution, sale, and licensing of the music catalogs. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, New York.