Critical Comparison: KinderCare Learning Companies (NYSE:KLC) versus Coursera (NYSE:COUR)

KinderCare Learning Companies (NYSE:KLC) and Coursera (NYSE:COUR) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

KinderCare Learning Companies has a beta of 3.78, indicating that its share price is 278% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Coursera has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares KinderCare Learning Companies and Coursera”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KinderCare Learning Companies	$2.73 billion	0.10	-$112.88 million	($3.98)	-0.60
Coursera	$757.50 million	1.82	-$51.00 million	($0.67)	-7.78

Coursera has lower revenue, but higher earnings than KinderCare Learning Companies. Coursera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KinderCare Learning Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.5% of Coursera shares are held by institutional investors. 5.8% of KinderCare Learning Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.3% of Coursera shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares KinderCare Learning Companies and Coursera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KinderCare Learning Companies	-17.23%	6.65%	1.21%
Coursera	-15.39%	-1.72%	-1.07%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for KinderCare Learning Companies and Coursera, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KinderCare Learning Companies	4	5	1	0	1.70
Coursera	1	4	7	0	2.50

KinderCare Learning Companies presently has a consensus target price of $4.13, suggesting a potential upside of 73.11%. Coursera has a consensus target price of $8.55, suggesting a potential upside of 63.86%. Given KinderCare Learning Companies’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe KinderCare Learning Companies is more favorable than Coursera.

Summary

Coursera beats KinderCare Learning Companies on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KinderCare Learning Companies

KinderCare Learning Companies Inc. is a provider of high-quality early childhood education by center capacity. KinderCare Learning Companies Inc. is based in PORTLAND, Ore.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc. operates an online educational content platform in the United States, Europe, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees. The company offers guided projects, courses, and specializations, as well as online degrees; and certificates for entry-level professional, non-entry level professional, university, and MasterTrack. It offers its products to individuals, enterprise, business, campus, and government. The company was formerly known as Dkandu, Inc. and changed its name to Coursera, Inc. in April 2012. Coursera, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.