Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL – Get Free Report) and Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC – Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Duolingo and Lincoln Educational Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Duolingo | 35.88% | 12.10% | 8.24% |
| Lincoln Educational Services | 3.99% | 14.47% | 5.76% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
91.6% of Duolingo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.6% of Duolingo shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Duolingo and Lincoln Educational Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Duolingo | 1 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 2.38 |
| Lincoln Educational Services | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.67 |
Duolingo presently has a consensus price target of $127.19, indicating a potential downside of 3.35%. Lincoln Educational Services has a consensus price target of $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 141.78%. Given Lincoln Educational Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lincoln Educational Services is more favorable than Duolingo.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Duolingo and Lincoln Educational Services”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Duolingo | $1.15 billion | 5.38 | $414.07 million | $8.44 | 15.59 |
| Lincoln Educational Services | $518.24 million | 1.27 | $20.00 million | $0.72 | 28.72 |
Duolingo has higher revenue and earnings than Lincoln Educational Services. Duolingo 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.
Risk & Volatility
Duolingo has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lincoln Educational Services has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Duolingo beats Lincoln Educational Services on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Duolingo
Duolingo, Inc. operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital English language proficiency assessment exam. Duolingo, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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.
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