Comparing Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) & Kuke Music (NYSE:KUKE)

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC – Get Rating) and Kuke Music (NYSE:KUKE – Get Rating) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.5% of Lincoln Educational Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.9% of Kuke Music shares are held by institutional investors. 29.3% of Lincoln Educational Services 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Lincoln Educational Services and Kuke Music, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln Educational Services	0	0	3	0	3.00
Kuke Music	0	0	0	0	N/A

Lincoln Educational Services presently has a consensus price target of $9.17, indicating a potential upside of 25.40%. Given Lincoln Educational Services’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lincoln Educational Services is more favorable than Kuke Music.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lincoln Educational Services and Kuke Music’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lincoln Educational Services	$335.34 million	0.59	$34.72 million	$0.90	8.12
Kuke Music	$47.39 million	0.89	-$9.23 million	($0.30)	-4.77

Lincoln Educational Services has higher revenue and earnings than Kuke Music. Kuke Music 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 and Volatility

Lincoln Educational Services has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kuke Music has a beta of 0.36, meaning that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln Educational Services	8.97%	26.65%	11.28%
Kuke Music	-17.51%	-0.37%	-0.31%

Summary

Lincoln Educational Services beats Kuke Music on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lincoln Educational Services

(Get Rating)

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: Transportation and Skilled Trades, and Healthcare and Other Professions. 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 nursing, dental and medical assistant, claim examiner, medical administrative assistant, etc.; hospitality services programs, such as culinary, therapeutic massage, cosmetology, and aesthetics; and information technology programs. The company operates 22 schools in 14 states under the Lincoln Technical Institute, Lincoln College of Technology, Lincoln Culinary Institute, Euphoria Institute of Beauty Arts and Sciences, and other brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it had 13,059 students enrolled at 22 campuses. The company was founded in 1946 and is based in Parsippany, New Jersey.

About Kuke Music

(Get Rating)

Kuke Music Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides classical music licensing, subscription, and education services in China. It operates through two segments, Subscription, Licensing and Smart Music Learning Business; and Music Events and Performances Business. The Subscription, Licensing and Smart Education Business segment distributes commercial copyrights and offers music education solutions. The Music Events Business segment is involved in the provision of music festival events and music performance services; and sale of musical instruments. The company licenses its music content primarily to online music entertainment platforms and digital music service providers, as well as film and TV production companies, airlines, and smart hardware companies. As of December 31, 2021, it had 802 institutional subscribers, including 477 universities and music conservatories, as well as 325 public libraries. Kuke Music Holding Limited was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.