Contrasting Oriental Land (OTCMKTS:OLCLY) and Pearson (NYSE:PSO)

Oriental Land (OTCMKTS:OLCLY) and Pearson (NYSE:PSO) are both large-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Oriental Land and Pearson, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oriental Land	0	1	0	0	2.00
Pearson	0	5	2	0	2.29

Insider & Institutional Ownership

2.1% of Pearson shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Pearson shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Oriental Land and Pearson”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oriental Land	$4.68 billion	6.35	$804.41 million	$0.54	33.57
Pearson	$3.63 billion	2.76	$441.77 million	N/A	N/A

Oriental Land has higher revenue and earnings than Pearson.

Volatility & Risk

Oriental Land has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pearson has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Oriental Land pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Pearson pays an annual dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Oriental Land pays out 11.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Oriental Land and Pearson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oriental Land	18.75%	12.36%	8.57%
Pearson	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Oriental Land beats Pearson on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oriental Land

Oriental Land Co., Ltd. operates and manages theme parks and hotels in Japan. It operates through Theme Park, Hotel Business, and Other Business segments. The Theme Park segment operates and manages Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea theme parks. The Hotel Business segment operates and manages Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta, Disney Ambassador Hotel, and Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel, as well as Tokyo Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel. The Other Business segment operates and manages Ikspiari, a shopping complex that includes shops and restaurants, and a cinema complex; and Disney Resort Line, a monorail connecting four stations within Tokyo Disney Resort. It is also involved in the land development. Oriental Land Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1960 and is based in Urayasu, Japan.

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.