Analyzing Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) and Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY)

Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) and Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.2% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Grand Canyon Education shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Japan Tob and Grand Canyon Education”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Tob	$23.20 billion	3.30	$3.42 billion	$1.37	15.74
Grand Canyon Education	$1.11 billion	3.57	$216.17 million	$8.27	18.32

Japan Tob has higher revenue and earnings than Grand Canyon Education. Japan Tob 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.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Tob and Grand Canyon Education’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Tob	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grand Canyon Education	19.63%	36.62%	26.87%

Volatility & Risk

Japan Tob has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grand Canyon Education has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Japan Tob and Grand Canyon Education, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Tob	1	1	1	0	2.00
Grand Canyon Education	0	2	3	0	2.60

Japan Tob presently has a consensus target price of $17.00, suggesting a potential downside of 21.19%. Grand Canyon Education has a consensus target price of $161.67, suggesting a potential upside of 6.69%. Given Grand Canyon Education’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Grand Canyon Education is more favorable than Japan Tob.

Summary

Grand Canyon Education beats Japan Tob on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Tob

Japan Tobacco Inc., a tobacco company, manufactures and sells tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Tobacco Business, Pharmaceutical, and Processed Food. It offers tobacco products, such as cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products, E-vapor products, fine cut tobacco products, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco products, and hookah and kretek products. The company also provides reduced-risk products, including infused tobacco capsules and heated tobacco sticks. In addition, it researches and develops, manufactures, and sells prescription drugs for the therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, kidney and metabolism, immunity/inflammation, and central nervous system. Further, the company provides frozen and room-temperature products, such as frozen udon noodles, packed rice, and frozen okonomiyaki; bakery products; and seasonings, including yeast extracts, assembled, kelp and bonito extracts, and oyster sauces. It offers its products under the Winston, Camel, MEVIUS, and LD brands. Japan Tobacco Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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.