Head-To-Head Review: Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) & Nerdy (NYSE:NRDY)

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) and Nerdy (NYSE:NRDY) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Lincoln Educational Services and Nerdy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln Educational Services	0	2	5	1	2.88
Nerdy	2	2	0	0	1.50

Lincoln Educational Services currently has a consensus price target of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 40.45%. Nerdy has a consensus price target of $1.25, indicating a potential upside of 46.37%. Given Nerdy’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nerdy is more favorable than Lincoln Educational Services.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lincoln Educational Services and Nerdy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lincoln Educational Services	$467.76 million	1.20	$9.89 million	$0.46	38.70
Nerdy	$178.38 million	0.89	-$42.58 million	($0.35)	-2.44

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

Profitability

This table compares Lincoln Educational Services and Nerdy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln Educational Services	3.05%	11.20%	4.61%
Nerdy	-22.95%	-81.74%	-51.09%

Risk & Volatility

Lincoln Educational Services has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nerdy has a beta of 1.82, meaning that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.2% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.1% of Nerdy shares are held by institutional investors. 13.6% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 50.9% of Nerdy 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.

Summary

Lincoln Educational Services beats Nerdy on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lincoln Educational Services

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various career-oriented post-secondary education services to high school graduates and working adults in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Campus Operations and Transitional. It offers associate's degree, and diploma and certificate programs in automotive technology; skilled trades programs, including electrical, heating and air conditioning repair, welding, computerized numerical control, and electrical and electronic systems technology; health science programs comprising licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, dental assistant, medical assistant, medical administrative assistant, and claims examiner; hospitality service and information technology programs, such as culinary, therapeutic massage, cosmetology, aesthetics, and computer systems support technicians. The company operates schools under the Lincoln Technical Institute, Lincoln College of Technology, Lincoln Culinary Institute, Euphoria Institute of Beauty Arts and Sciences, and other brand names. Lincoln Educational Services Corporation was founded in 1946 and is based in Parsippany, New Jersey.

About Nerdy

Nerdy, Inc. operates platform for live online learning. The company's purpose-built proprietary platform leverages technology, including artificial intelligence to connect students, users, parents, guardians, and purchasers of various ages to tutors, instructors, subject matter experts, educators, and other professionals, delivering value on both sides of the network. Its learning destination provides learning experiences across various subjects and multiple formats, including one-on-one instruction, small group tutoring, large format classes, tutor chat, essay review, adaptive assessment, and self-study tools. The company's flagship business, Varsity Tutors, operates platforms for live online tutoring and classes. Its solutions are available directly to learners, as well as through education systems. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.