Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE – Get Free Report) and ADT (NYSE:ADT – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
94.2% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.2% of ADT shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of ADT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Grand Canyon Education and ADT, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Grand Canyon Education | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.60 |
| ADT | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.14 |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Grand Canyon Education and ADT”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Grand Canyon Education | $1.14 billion | 3.42 | $216.17 million | $8.27 | 18.10 |
| ADT | $5.13 billion | 1.07 | $595.95 million | $0.71 | 10.55 |
ADT has higher revenue and earnings than Grand Canyon Education. ADT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grand Canyon Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Grand Canyon Education has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ADT has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Grand Canyon Education and ADT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Grand Canyon Education | 19.63% | 36.62% | 26.87% |
| ADT | 11.85% | 18.99% | 4.40% |
Summary
Grand Canyon Education beats ADT on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Grand Canyon Education
Grand Canyon Education, Inc. provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services. The company also offers marketing and communication services that include lead acquisition, digital communications strategy, brand identity, media planning and strategy, video, business intelligence and data science, and market research services; and back-office services consisting of finance and accounting, human resources, audit, and procurement services. In addition, it provides education services to 25 university partners. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
About ADT
ADT Inc. provides security, interactive, and smart home solutions to residential and small business customers in the United States. It operates through two segments, Consumer and Small Business, and Solar. The company provides burglar and life safety alarms, smart security cameras, smart home automation systems, and video surveillance systems. It primarily offers security designed to detect intrusion, control access, sense movement, smoke, fire, carbon monoxide, flooding, temperature, and other environmental conditions and hazards; and address personal medical emergencies, such as injuries or unanticipated falls. The company also provides automation and smart home solutions that allow customers to use their smart phones, smart phone application, or touchscreen panels in their homes to arm and disarm their security systems; record and view real-time video; and creates customized and automated schedules for connected devices; programs systems to react to defined events; integrates system with third-party connected devices, such as cameras, lights, thermostats, appliances, and garage doors, as well as offers monitoring and maintenance services. In addition, the company offers energy storage solutions, energy efficiency upgrades, and roofing services. It offers its products under the ADT, ADT Pulse, ADT+, and ADT Commercial brand names. The company was formerly known as Prime Security Services Parent, Inc. and changed its name to ADT Inc. in September 2017. ADT Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.
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