Strategic Education Inc. (STRA) vs TAL Education Group (TAL)

Strategic Education Inc. and TAL Education Group are both Education & Training Services companies. TAL Education Group is the larger, with a market value of $3.4B against $1.3B — 2.6× the size. TAL Education Group trades at the lower P/E: 7.6× against 200×. TAL Education Group grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 25.4% against 2.79%. TAL Education Group has the higher net margin (22.1% vs 0.74%) and the higher return on invested capital (27.3% vs 2.52%). Across the 22 metrics below, TAL Education Group leads on 13 and Strategic Education Inc. on 9.

Valuation

Metric STRA TAL Education & Training Services median
P/E 199.59 7.62 12.09
P/S 0.94 1.69 0.80
P/B 0.81 1.35 1.39
Price to free cash flow 7.26 27.31 7.31
EV/EBITDA 5.06 9.23 6.36
EV/Sales 0.89 1.50 0.58
Earnings yield 0.50% 13.12% 3.29%
Free cash flow yield 13.77% 3.66% 3.03%

Profitability

Metric STRA TAL Education & Training Services median
Gross margin 49.19% 56.89% 55.03%
Operating margin 4.31% 16.20% 0.00%
Net margin 0.74% 22.13% 1.77%
Free cash flow margin 16.47% 18.37% 0.00%
Return on equity 0.60% 19.35% 0.00%
Return on assets 0.47% 12.15% 0.00%
Return on invested capital 2.52% 27.33% 0.00%

Growth

Metric STRA TAL Education & Training Services median
Revenue growth (TTM) 2.79% 25.35% 5.84%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 15.85% 557.14% 14.71%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 4.30% (7.72%) 4.24%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 7.98% 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric STRA TAL Education & Training Services median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.01 0.05
Current ratio 1.08 1.84 1.37
Net debt to EBITDA (0.66) (9.83) (0.04)

Dividend

Metric STRA TAL Education & Training Services median
Dividend yield 4.15% — 2.64%
Payout ratio 14.12 — 0.26

Size

Metric STRA TAL Education & Training Services median
Market cap 1.30b 3.40b 59.54m

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