Obermatt

Pearson

LSE:PSON · GB0006776081
Diversified Consumer ServicesLarge

360

71
EV / EBIT69
Price / Owner Earnings59
Owner Earnings Yield72
Dividend Yield47
Price/Sales28
EV / Gross Profit76
Price/Book52
Return on Capital34
Cash Return on Capital49
Return on Equity28
EBIT Margin39
Gross Profitability47
Cash Conversion54
Accruals46
Owner Earnings Margin61
Sales growth40
Profit Growth92
Long-Term EPS Growth51
Owner Earnings Growth29
Reinvestment85
Price momentum62
Debt load64
Refinancing88
Debt Payback60
Liquidity65
Analyst ratings30
Opinion Changes71
Price Target Upside20
Market mood37
Value Creation8/20creating some value
  • Creates more value than its capital costs
  • Owner earnings growing
  • Owner earnings per share growing
  • Reinvests at strong returns
  • Solid earnings base

What this means

Pearson clears its cost of capital, but the record is mixed across the five tests. Real value creation, just not yet consistent.

Profile

CountryUK
IndustryDiversified Consumer Services
SizeLarge
TypePublic Company
ExchangeLSE
Founded1897
Employees25,102
ISINGB0006776081
Last UpdateApr 2, 2026

Description

Pearson plc (Pearson) operates as a learning company worldwide. Pearson, its subsidiaries, and associates are international businesses covering educational courseware, assessments, and services. Segment These five business units are Assessment & Q…

Analysis

Middle-of-the-road

Pearson plc sits in the middle of our grid: average quality, average price, no obvious signal in either direction.

On valuation, the picture is fair. The owner-earnings multiple stands at 17.2×; owner earnings: the cash an owner could take out each year. The implied growth embedded in that price is around 4% a year, against analyst forecasts of 10%. The price, in other words, assumes less than the experts do.

Growth is moderate; the safety picture is sturdy. The company scores 8/20 on our value-creation score: creating some value.

No flags apply to this company at this time: accounts, balance sheet, and cash quality all pass. A clean bill of health is meaningful, not just the absence of a warning. This analysis describes numbers; it is not investment advice.

360° rank · history

1007550250
94
2023202420252026

All-time high

94

Jun 2026

All-time low

20

Sep 2025

Average rank

60

across all years

Detailed & Historical Ranks

Deep dive into 15 detailed ranks and 3 years of history.

Current202520242023
Price/Sales
28
17
33
62
Price/Earnings
28
16
39
74
Price/Book
52
47
63
85
Dividend Yield
47
52
49
62
Value (overall)
32
37
21
62

Cells are coloured by rank band (red weak → green strong). Sentiment & 360° history begins 2023.

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Make Sense of the Ranks

Every rank runs 1–100 against true peers. Higher is always better.

360° View
1 · Watch OutGood· 100
Value
1 · ExpensiveGood Value· 100
Quality
1 · Weak FundamentalsHigh Quality· 100
Growth
1 · Tough TimesHigh Growth· 100
Safety
1 · High LeverageWell-Financed· 100
Sentiment
1 · SkepticismPositive· 100
Learn More →