LRN vs. LOPE: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in Schools stocks are likely familiar with K12 (LRN) and Grand Canyon Education (LOPE). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

K12 has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Grand Canyon Education has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that LRN has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

LRN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.83, while LOPE has a forward P/E of 23.92. We also note that LRN has a PEG ratio of 0.84. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. LOPE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.59.

Another notable valuation metric for LRN is its P/B ratio of 4.36. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, LOPE has a P/B of 7.91.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to LRN's Value grade of B and LOPE's Value grade of C.

LRN stands above LOPE thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that LRN is the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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