Pearson (PSON.L)
Communications · LSE · UK
Fundamentals
Valuation and ratings
Pearson trades at £12.50, which is 54% above the £5.74 our discounted cash flow model puts on the business. On that measure it screens as expensive, which is not the same as saying it will fall.
Our moat model scores it 52 out of 100, which is a moat, but not a deep one. A moat is a structural reason competitors cannot take the profits away, and it matters more to a long holding period than any single quarter's numbers do.
It changes hands at 24.9 times earnings. Be careful reading that in isolation: for a cyclical business a low P/E arrives at the top of the cycle, when profits are peaking and about to fall, which is exactly when the shares look cheapest and are not.
About Pearson
Pearson plc provides educational courseware, assessments, and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, other European countries, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Assessment & Qualifications, Virtual Learning, English Language Learning, Enterprise Learning & Skills, and Higher Education. The Assessment & Qualifications segment offers pearson professional assessments, US student assessment, clinical assessment, UK GCSE, and A levels and international academic qualifications and associated courseware, including the English-speaking Canadian and Australian K-12 businesses, and PDR. The Virtual Learning segment provides virtual schools and online program management. The English Language Learning segment offers Pearson test of English, institutional courseware, and English online solutions. The Enterprise Learning & Skills segment provides vocational qualifications, GED, TalentLens, Faethm, Credly, Pearson College, and Enterprise content and training. The Higher Education segment engages in the US, Canadian, and international higher education courseware businesses. Pearson plc was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
PSON.L passes 1 of our 30 screens today
Each screen prints the exact criteria it used, and the circumstances in which it is wrong.
Common questions
Is Pearson (PSON.L) undervalued?
Against our discounted cash flow estimate of £5.74, PSON.L at £12.50 is 54% above fair value. That is one model's answer, not a recommendation, and most of a DCF's output sits in a terminal value nobody can forecast.
What is PSON.L's P/E ratio?
PSON.L trades at 24.9 times earnings. A low P/E is not automatically cheap: on a cyclical company it is usually a warning that earnings are at a peak.
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Data from company filings, exchange quotes and SEC EDGAR 13F disclosures. Quotes are delayed. Metrics we do not have are left out rather than estimated. Educational information, not financial advice.