Which Is a Better Investment, Laureate Education, Inc. or Service Corporation International Stock?

By Michael Rose
August 01, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Diversified Consumer Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Service Corporation International, Laureate Education or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc.

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses. The company also provides professional services related to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services. In addition, it offers funeral merchandise, including burial caskets and related accessories, urns and other cremation receptacles, outer burial containers, flowers, online and video tributes, stationery products, casket and cremation memorialization products, and other ancillary merchandise. Further, the company’s cemeteries provide cemetery property interment rights, such as developed lots, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, and cremation niches; custom inventory, including private mausoleums, family estates, and exclusive cremation memorialization options; and Cemetery merchandise and services, such as memorial cemetery markers and bases, outer burial containers, flowers and floral placement, other ancillary merchandise, graveside services, merchandise installation, and interments. It offers its products and services under the Dignity Memorial, Dignity Planning, National Cremation Society, Advantage Funeral and Cremation Services, Funeraria del Angel, Making Everlasting Memories, Neptune Society, and Trident Society brand names. Service Corporation International was incorporated in 1962 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Laureate Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a portfolio of higher education institutions in Mexico, Peru, and the United States. The company offers a range of undergraduate, graduate, and specialized degree programs in the areas of medicine and health sciences, engineering and information technology, and business and management through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs. It also operates universities and technical-vocational institutions, as well as provides high school education services. The company was formerly known as Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Laureate Education, Inc. in May 2004. Laureate Education, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Latest Diversified Consumer Services and Service Corporation International, Laureate Education, Inc. Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Service Corporation International had a $11.8 billion market capitalization, compared to the Diversified Consumer Services median of $105.4 million. Service Corporation International’s stock is up 10.5% in 2026, up 4.7% in the previous five trading days and up 13.96% in the past year.

Currently, Service Corporation International’s price-earnings ratio is 22.7. Service Corporation International’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.3 billion with a 12.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 2.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.178 per share for the current fiscal year. Service Corporation International currently has a 1.6% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Laureate Education, Inc. had a $5.3 billion market cap, putting it in the 68th percentile of all stocks. Laureate Education, Inc.’s stock is up 13.8% in 2026, up 3.5% in the previous five trading days and up 67.81% in the past year.

Currently, Laureate Education, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 17.2. Laureate Education, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.8 billion with a 17.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 17.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.090 per share for the current fiscal year. Laureate Education, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Service Corporation International SCI C
Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Service Corporation International has a Quality Score of 51, which is Average. Laureate Education, Inc. has a Quality Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Laureate Education, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Laureate Education, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Service Corporation International. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Laureate Education, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Service Corporation International SCI C
Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Service Corporation International has a Momentum Score of 53, which is Average. Laureate Education, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 85, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Laureate Education, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Laureate Education, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Service Corporation International. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Laureate Education, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Service Corporation International SCI C
Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Service Corporation International has a Earnings Estimate Score of 45, which is Neutral. Laureate Education, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 49, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Service Corporation International, Laureate Education or Inc. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Service Corporation International, Laureate Education or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

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Other Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Momentum and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.

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Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Service Corporation International, Laureate Education or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Service Corporation International stock has a Momentum Score of 53, Estimate Revisions Score of 45 and Quality Score of 51.

Laureate Education, Inc. stock has a Momentum Score of 85, Estimate Revisions Score of 49 and Quality Score of 83.

Comparing Service Corporation International, Laureate Education and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

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AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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