February 1, 2024
Top 10 Stock Pearson Buy Recommendation
How to read the ranks
For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".
Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".
Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.
Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.
(NEW) Sentiment - quantifies professional analyst ratings and holdings as well as market pulse. Green = positive sentiment; red = skepticism (Only available to Premium Subscribers).
(NEW) 360° View - the ultimate rating with all financial and non-financial indicators.
Snapshot: Pearson – Top 10 Stock in FTSE 100 Index
Pearson is listed as a top 10 stock on February 01, 2024 in the market index FTSE 100 because of its high performance in at least one of the Obermatt investment strategies. Two consolidated Obermatt Ranks are above-average. The company is safely financed and the professional investor sentiment is positive. Both are encouraging signals for a stock purchase decision, albeit at an above-average share price. Based on the Obermatt 360° View of 65 (high 65% performer), Obermatt assesses an overall buy recommendation for Pearson on February 01, 2024.
Snapshot: Obermatt Ranks
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Industry | Education Services |
| Index | FTSE All Shares, FTSE 100, FTSE 350, Diversity Europe, Human Rights, Multimedia, Renewables Users |
| Size class | X-Large |
When Obermatt identifies the Top 10 stocks in a market, it’s based on a certain investment strategy. The best performing stocks usually aren’t the ones that everyone is talking about (those are often "over-priced" and have low Value ranks).
For each investment strategy, we provide you with more detailed analysis and our recommendation. You see the ranks of the top 10 stocks ranked by that particular investment strategy (360° View, Sentiment, Value, Growth, Safety and Combined Financial Performance).
360° View: Obermatt 360° View Pearson Buy
| 360 METRICS | February 1, 2024 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 49 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 17 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 90 |
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| SENTIMENT | ||||||||
| SENTIMENT | 70 |
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| 360° VIEW | ||||||||
| 360° VIEW | 65 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt 360° View of 65 (better than 65% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and financial characteristics for the stock Pearson are above average. The 360° View is based on consolidating four consolidated indicators, with half below and half above average for Pearson. The consolidated Sentiment Rank has a good rank of 70, which means that professional investors are more optimistic about the stock than for 70% of alternative investment opportunities. It also rates well regarding its financing structure, with the consolidated Safety Rank at 90 or better than 90% of its peers when looking at the amount of its debt, its refinancing requirements, and its ability to service debt. But the stock is expensive and expects low growth. The consolidated Value Rank is only 49, meaning that the share price of Pearson is on the high side, compared with indicators such as revenues, profits, and invested capital. The company exhibits below-average growth momentum when looking at financial metrics such as revenue, profit, invested capital growth,and stock returns, with its Growth Rank at 17. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated 360° View of 65, Pearson is better positioned than 65% of all alternative stock investment opportunities based on the Obermatt Method. As only half of the consolidated Obermatt Ranks exhibit excellent performance, namely the positive professional market sentiment (Sentiment Rank of 70) and safe financing practices (Safety Rank of 90), the case for investing in this stock needs further thought. The Value and the Safety Ranks are below average. The Safety Rank is the least critical of the four consolidated ranks, because it only reflects financing practices. So the question is: How to assess below-average value against above-average sentiment? This may be a case where growth is in the future, not yet reflected in current performance. Companies that might fall into this category are those with intellectual property, such as technology and pharmaceutical companies. In early phases, they are expensive relative to their size and have a lot of capital on their books, as is the case here. Investors expect a better future and are willing to pay a higher price than is warranted by the current company size. These higher prices drive stock price value down in the short term. In this case, future growth may be the strongest driver of the investment case, reflected by institutional investors' opinions. With a weak Value Rank, the question is how much to sacrifice value at the cost of positive sentiment. Sometimes market sentiment is just hype, but sometimes it is right. You pay more than market-average for this stock, but it may be worth it, if the future of Pearsoṇ is bright. Prudent investors may only want to invest a smaller portion of their wealth in such situations. Young investors can carry more risk but should still thrive for sufficient diversification. ...read more
Sentiment Strategy: Professional Market Sentiment for Pearson positive
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Sentiment Rank of 70 (better than 70% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and engagement for the stock Pearson is above average. The Sentiment Rank is based on consolidating four sentiment indicators, with all but one indicator above average for Pearson. Analyst Opinions are at a rank of 26 (worse than 74% of alternative investments), which means that currently, stock research analysts tend to warn against investing in the stock of the company. But they are changing their opinions! Analyst Opinions Change has a rank of 50, which indicates a shift in stock research experts opinions for the better. In other words, they are getting more optimistic about stock investments in Pearson. Even better, the Professional Investors rank is 82, meaning that professional investors hold more stock in this company than in 82% of alternative investment opportunities. Pros tend to favor investing in this company. Furthermore, Market Pulse has a rank of 75, which means that the current professional news and professional social networks are upbeat when discussing this company (more positive news than for 75% of competitors). ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Sentiment Rank of 70 (more positive than 70% compared with investment alternatives), Pearson has a reputation among professional investors that is above-average compared with that of its competitors. While analysts are still critical of the company, some are changing their minds. In addition, the professional news channels are optimistic, and many institutional investors have already bought stock in the company. These are encouraging signals, despite the still lower level of analyst recommendations. They may be due to a problematic past, and about to change. The positive sentiment signals are stronger than the negative. ...read more
Value Strategy: Pearson Stock Price Value below-average critical
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 49 (worse than 51% compared with alternatives), Pearson shares are more expensive than the average comparable stock. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for Pearson. Expected dividend yields are higher than for 55% of comparable companies (a Dividend Yield rank of 55), making the stock attractive. The same is valid for Price-to-Book Capital (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Book Rank of 65, which means that the stock price is lower compared with invested capital than for 65% of comparable investments. But in respect to sales and profits, the picture is reversed. Price-to-Sales is 35 which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future profits is higher than for 65% of comparable companies, indicating a low value concerning Pearson's sales levels. The Price-to-Profit ratio (also referred to as price-earnings (P/E) ratio) is also unfavorable for Pearson with a rank of 38. This means that the stock price, compared with what market professionals expect for future profits, is higher than for 62% of comparable companies, indicating a low value concerning Pearson's profit levels. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 49, is a hold recommendation based on Pearson's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. The company seems confident that it can generate a reasonable return on invested capital, because it pays an above-average dividend while profits are below what you would expect for a company with this stock price. If you agree with this practice and believe that profits will return to higher levels, as the current dividend policy suggests, Pearson may be an attractive investment. If this is not the case, you may want to be careful with this stock as it is also expensive compared with its expected revenue levels. ...read more
Growth Strategy: Pearson Growth Momentum negative
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 17 (better than 17% compared with alternatives), Pearson shows one of the most restricted growth dynamics in its industry. There is little momentum in this company. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with three out of four indicators below average for Pearson. Sales Growth has a below market rank of 13, which means that, currently, professionals expect the company to grow less than 87% of its competitors. The same is valid for Capital Growth, with a rank of 17, and Profit Growth, with a rank of 42. Currently, professionals expect the company to grow its profits less than 58% of its competitors). Only shareholders are optimistic. Stock Returns are above average at a rank of 59, which means that the stock returns have recently been above 59% of alternative investments. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 17, is a sell recommendation for growth and momentum investors. That picture may be the result for a company that has reached the bottom. All went south for Pearson, and it still looks bad, but some investors already see light at the end of the tunnel, rewarding the stock with recent above-market stock returns. It could also mean that investors are correcting an overreaction to negative news. If that were the case, the positive stock returns are not yet a sign of recovery. Investors should look closely at the Value and Sentiment indicators before they make a stock purchasing decision, because growth is unlikely to be the driving argument behind this investment. ...read more
Safety Strategy: Pearson Debt Financing Safety very solid
| SAFETY METRICS | February 1, 2024 | |||||||
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| LEVERAGE | ||||||||
| LEVERAGE | 81 |
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| REFINANCING | ||||||||
| REFINANCING | 86 |
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| LIQUIDITY | ||||||||
| LIQUIDITY | 75 |
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| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | 90 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 90 (better than 90% compared with alternatives) for 2024, the company Pearson has safe financing practices, which means that their overall debt burden is low. This doesn't mean that the business of Pearson is safe, it only means that the company is on the safer side regarding possible bankruptcy, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators, where all three are above average for Pearson. Leverage is at 81, meaning the company has a below-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has less debt than 81% of its competitors. Refinancing is at a rank of 86, meaning that the portion of the debt about to be refinanced is below average. It has less debt in the refinancing stage than 86% of its competitors. Finally, Liquidity is also good at a rank of 75, which means that the company generates more profit to service its debt than 75% of its competitors. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 90 (better than 90% compared with alternatives), Pearson has a financing structure that is significantly safer than that of its competitors. These three positive financing indicators signal that the company is less likely to default on its debt obligations. However, it also means that its shareholder returns will be more modest if things go well. A low safety means fewer troubles in downtimes and less upside in good times. ...read more
Combined financial peformance: Pearson Above-Average Financial Performance
| COMBINED PERFORMANCE | February 1, 2024 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 49 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 17 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 75 |
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| COMBINED | ||||||||
| COMBINED | 52 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 52 (better than 52% compared with investment alternatives), Pearson (Education Services, United Kingdom) shares have above-average financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of Pearson are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 49 (worse than 51% of alternatives) and show below-average growth (Growth Rank of 17) but are safely financed (Safety Rank of 90), which means low debt burdens. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 52, is a buy recommendation based on Pearson's financial characteristics. As the company Pearson's critical financial metrics exhibit below-average performance, such as low value (Obermatt Value Rank of 49) and low growth (Obermatt Growth Rank of 17), it is a somewhat questionable stock investment, where the risk of paying too much for the shares is significant, unless the company has an exceptionally bright future. In this case, good financing practices (Obermatt Safety Rank of 90) are a positive sign, because it may allow the company to weather challenging times until the hoped-for cash flows materialize. This may be true for high-tech or biotechnology companies with enough cash to sustain prolonged business development. If they own properties that only provide cash flows in the future, the stock may look excessively expensive and unattractive today. In such cases, the Obermatt Method has limited value, as it is based on facts we can observe today. If the facts lie all in the future, stock investing becomes guesswork, and this should only be a driver in a limited number of investments that account for a small fraction of a safe portfolio. ...read more
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