Financial Survey: Educational Development (NASDAQ:EDUC) versus Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR)

Educational Development (NASDAQ:EDUC) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) are both communication services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.6% of Educational Development shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.8% of Charter Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Educational Development shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Charter Communications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Educational Development and Charter Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Educational Development	0	1	0	0	2.00
Charter Communications	7	10	5	0	1.91

Charter Communications has a consensus price target of $202.53, suggesting a potential upside of 92.63%. Given Charter Communications’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Charter Communications is more favorable than Educational Development.

Profitability

This table compares Educational Development and Charter Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Educational Development	9.75%	-18.23%	-12.73%
Charter Communications	9.05%	23.71%	3.19%

Risk & Volatility

Educational Development has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charter Communications has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Educational Development and Charter Communications”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Educational Development	$22.91 million	0.49	$2.33 million	$0.23	5.67
Charter Communications	$54.77 billion	0.23	$4.99 billion	$38.51	2.73

Charter Communications has higher revenue and earnings than Educational Development. Charter Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Educational Development, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Charter Communications beats Educational Development on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Educational Development

Educational Development Corporation, a publishing company, operates as a publisher of educational children's books in the United States. It operates through two segments, PaperPie and Publishing. The company offers various books, including touchy-feely board books, activity books and flashcards, adventure and search books, art books, sticker books, and foreign language books, as well as internet-linked books comprising science and math titles, and chapter books and novels. It markets its products to retail accounts, which include book, school supply, toy and gift stores and museums, through commissioned sales representatives, trade and specialty wholesalers, and its internal tele-sales group; and through a network of independent sales consultants through internet sales, direct sales, home shows, and book fairs. Educational Development Corporation was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc. operates as a broadband connectivity and cable operator company serving residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company offers subscription-based internet, video, and mobile and voice services; a suite of broadband connectivity services, including fixed internet, WiFi, and mobile; Advanced WiFi services; Spectrum Security Shield; in-home WiFi, which provides customers with high performance wireless routers and managed WiFi services to enhance their fixed wireless internet experience; out-of-home WiFi; and Spectrum WiFi services. It also offers voice communications services using voice over internet protocol technology; and broadband communications solutions, such as internet access, data networking, fiber connectivity, video entertainment, and business telephone services to cellular towers and office buildings for business and carrier organizations. In addition, the company provides mobile services; video programming, static IP and business WiFi, voice, and e-mail and security services; sells local advertising across various platforms for networks, such as TBS, CNN, and ESPN; sells advertising inventory to local sports and news channels; and offers Audience App to create data-driven linear TV campaigns for local advertisers. Further, the company offers communications products and managed service solutions; data connectivity services to mobile and wireline carriers on a wholesale basis; and owns and operates regional sports networks and news channels. It serves approximately 32 million customers in 41 states. Charter Communications, Inc.was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.