Contrasting New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) and Benesse (OTCMKTS:BSEFY)

Benesse (OTCMKTS:BSEFY) and New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Benesse and New Oriental Education & Technology Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Benesse	0	0	0	0	N/A
New Oriental Education & Technology Group	0	0	2	0	3.00

New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a consensus price target of $77.33, indicating a potential downside of 10.67%. Given New Oriental Education & Technology Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe New Oriental Education & Technology Group is more favorable than Benesse.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Benesse shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.5% of New Oriental Education & Technology Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Benesse and New Oriental Education & Technology Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Benesse	N/A	N/A	N/A
New Oriental Education & Technology Group	8.54%	7.97%	4.77%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Benesse and New Oriental Education & Technology Group’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Benesse	N/A	N/A	N/A	$55.01	0.31
New Oriental Education & Technology Group	$3.58 billion	4.10	$177.34 million	$1.82	47.57

New Oriental Education & Technology Group has higher revenue and earnings than Benesse. Benesse is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New Oriental Education & Technology Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

New Oriental Education & Technology Group beats Benesse on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Benesse

Benesse Holdings, Inc. provides educational, and nursing care and childcare services in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Domestic Education Business; Nursing Care and Childcare Business; and Kids & Family Business. The company engages in the correspondence course business, school and teacher support business, cram school business, English language lessons for children business, and other businesses for preschool to high school students; and nursing care and childcare business, which include the operation of nursing homes for seniors comprising fee-based homes and elderly houses with care services, home help and daytime nursing care services, food delivery, and daycare and afterschool care services. It also offers information and products relating to pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting; lifestyle information and support everyday living through forums for communication with customers; and magazines, websites, and others to help enrich life with pets. The company was formerly known as Benesse Corporation and changed its name to Benesse Holdings, Inc. in 2009. Benesse Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1955 and is headquartered in Okayama, Japan.

About New Oriental Education & Technology Group

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. provides private educational services under the New Oriental brand in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through four segments: Educational Services and Test Preparation Courses; Online Education and Other Services; Overseas Study Consulting Services; and Educational Materials and Distribution. It offers test preparation courses to students taking language and entrance exams used by educational institutions in the United States, the Commonwealth countries, and the People's Republic of China. The company also provides non-academic tutoring courses; intelligent learning systems and devices to offer a digital learning experience for students; and overseas studies consulting services. In addition, it offers online education services through the Koolearn.com platform that provides comprehensive online education courses, including college educational services, such as college test preparation, overseas test preparation, and English language learning for college students and working professionals preparing for standardized tests or seeking to enhance their English language proficiency; and educational content packages to schools and institutional customers, including universities, public libraries, telecom operators, and online video streaming providers. Further, the company develops and edits educational materials for language training and test preparation. In addition, it offers educational programs, services, and products to students through schools; learning centers; and bookstores, as well as through its online learning platforms. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.