Meta Data (NYSE:AIU – Get Rating) and American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI – Get Rating) are both industrial products companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Meta Data and American Public Education’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Meta Data | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| American Public Education | -18.97% | -2.19% | -1.10% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Meta Data and American Public Education, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Meta Data | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| American Public Education | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
92.3% of American Public Education shares are held by institutional investors. 12.7% of Meta Data shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of American Public Education shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
Meta Data has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Public Education has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Meta Data and American Public Education’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Meta Data | $2.12 million | N/A | -$168.90 million | N/A | N/A |
| American Public Education | $606.33 million | 0.18 | -$114.99 million | ($6.09) | -0.93 |
American Public Education has higher revenue and earnings than Meta Data.
Summary
American Public Education beats Meta Data on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Meta Data
Meta Data Ltd. Engage in the provision of artificial intelligent education service (AIE) and artificial intelligent universe (AIU) IAAS service. The company was founded by Zhang Xi in January 2008 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.
About American Public Education
American Public Education, Inc. provides online and on-campus postsecondary education services. It operates through the following segments: American Public University System (APUS) segment, Rasmussen University (RU) segment and Hondros College of Nursing (HCN) segment. The American Public University System segment provides online postsecondary educational services. The Rasmussen University segment provides nursing and health sciences focused on postsecondary educational services. The Hondros College of Nursing segment provides nursing educational services. The company was founded by James P. Etter in 1991 and is headquartered in Charles Town, WV.
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