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LRN or LOPE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Schools stocks have likely encountered both K12 (LRN - Free Report) and Grand Canyon Education (LOPE - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, K12 has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Grand Canyon Education has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that LRN is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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 16.31, while LOPE has a forward P/E of 17.86. We also note that LRN has a PEG ratio of 0.82. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. LOPE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.19.

Another notable valuation metric for LRN is its P/B ratio of 2.10. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, LOPE has a P/B of 5.97.

These metrics, and several others, help LRN earn a Value grade of B, while LOPE has been given a Value grade of C.

LRN has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than LOPE, so it seems like value investors will conclude that LRN is the superior option right now.


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