Critical Contrast: Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) & OneSpaWorld (NASDAQ:OSW)

OneSpaWorld (NASDAQ:OSW) and Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.0% of OneSpaWorld shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Laureate Education shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of OneSpaWorld shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Laureate Education shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares OneSpaWorld and Laureate Education’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OneSpaWorld	8.02%	18.36%	14.28%
Laureate Education	17.57%	23.54%	11.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for OneSpaWorld and Laureate Education, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OneSpaWorld	0	1	5	1	3.00
Laureate Education	1	2	3	1	2.57

OneSpaWorld currently has a consensus price target of $30.60, indicating a potential upside of 15.38%. Laureate Education has a consensus price target of $40.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.89%. Given OneSpaWorld’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe OneSpaWorld is more favorable than Laureate Education.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares OneSpaWorld and Laureate Education”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OneSpaWorld	$1.01 billion	2.67	$71.62 million	$0.79	33.57
Laureate Education	$1.83 billion	2.93	$281.63 million	$2.23	17.48

Laureate Education has higher revenue and earnings than OneSpaWorld. Laureate Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OneSpaWorld, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

OneSpaWorld has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laureate Education has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

OneSpaWorld pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Laureate Education pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. OneSpaWorld pays out 25.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Laureate Education pays out 30.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

About OneSpaWorld

OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited operates health and wellness centers onboard cruise ships and at destination resorts worldwide. Its health and wellness centers offer services, such as traditional body, salon, and skin care services and products; self-service fitness facilities, specialized fitness classes, and personal fitness training; pain management, detoxifying programs, and body composition analyses; weight management programs and products; and medi-spa services. The company also provides its guests access to beauty and wellness brands, including ELEMIS, Grown Alchemist, Kérastase, Dysport, Restylane, Thermage, CoolSculpting, truSculpt 3D, truSculpt iD, Good Feet, and Hyperice with various brands offered in the cruise market. The company is based in Nassau, Bahamas.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs. It also offers specialized courses for technical and vocational training; and senior high school. Its services are provides in Mexico, Peru, and the United States. The company was formerly known as Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Laureate Education, Inc. in May 2004. Laureate Education, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.