CVSA vs LOPE: How Covista and Grand Canyon Education Compare (2026)
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
CVSA (Covista) and LOPE (Grand Canyon Education) share investment themes but are different businesses. The right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme.
CVSA vs LOPE: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | CVSA | LOPE | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $4.42B | $3.79B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 14.61 | 12.84 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 18.56 | 17.55 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 0.62 | 0.57 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 62% of range | 12% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 3.24 | 5.69 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Before you buy: how CVSA and LOPE affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CVSA and LOPE share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CVSA and LOPE exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Covista (CVSA) do?
Covista Inc. is the largest healthcare educator in the United States by enrollment, running five accredited institutions across three reporting segments. Chamberlain University is the nursing school and the biggest single revenue line. Walden University is the online graduate institution, weighted toward master's and doctoral programs in nursing, health, education and social work. The Medical and Veterinary segment holds American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Ross University School of Medicine and Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, with campuses in Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. Revenue is tuition, and a large share of that tuition is funded by federal Title IV student aid. The company is the former DeVry Education Group, which took the Adtalem name in 2017, sold DeVry University in 2018, and spent the four years after that reshaping around healthcare. It announced the Covista name on 5 February 2026 and the ticker moved from ATGE to CVSA on the NYSE on 24 February 2026.
What does Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) do?
Grand Canyon Education (Nasdaq: LOPE) is an education services company that provides technology, counseling, marketing, financial aid processing, faculty support, and back-office operations to university partners for a share of their tuition revenue. Its economic core is a long-term master services relationship with Grand Canyon University, which GCE owned and operated until GCU spun off as a nonprofit in 2018. Around that anchor, GCE has built a portfolio of roughly 20-plus university partners and a fast-growing hybrid model (through its Orbis/healthcare campuses) that runs off-campus classroom and lab sites for nursing and allied-health programs.
CVSA vs LOPE: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- CVSA drivers: Nursing demand and the Chamberlain pipeline; Walden's online graduate scale.
- LOPE drivers: Enrollment growth at Grand Canyon University; Hybrid and healthcare campus expansion.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The dominant risk is federal policy rather than competition. For LOPE, gCE's revenue is heavily concentrated in its relationship with Grand Canyon University, so any change to that master services agreement, GCU's enrollment trends, or its regulatory standing would ripple straight through to GCE.
CVSA or LOPE: which should you pick?
CVSA vs LOPE: the full fundamentals
CVSA. Shares trade near ~$130, up roughly ~13% over the past 52 weeks, for an enterprise value of ~$5.0 billion and an EV/EBITDA multiple around ~9x on a ~26% adjusted EBITDA margin. That is a discount to the ~20x trailing P/E implied by GAAP earnings because adjusted profit runs well ahead of reported profit, a gap worth checking in the filings. Fiscal Q4 and full-year 2026 results land on 6 August 2026, and the published average analyst price target sits near ~$156.
LOPE. GCE trades at roughly a low-20s price-to-earnings multiple against about $1.12 billion in trailing revenue and a market capitalization near $4.5 billion. The market is valuing it as a steady, high-margin services compounder, with adjusted EBITDA margins around 36 percent reflecting the capital-light model. Full-year 2026 EPS guidance sits near a midpoint of roughly $9.98.
Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CVSA shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.91 billion, adjusted eps (fy2026 guidance) ~$7.95 to ~$8.15, adjusted operating margin (q3 fy2026) ~21.0%, market cap ~$4.4 billion; LOPE shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.12B, 2026 revenue guidance (midpoint) ~$1.18B, market cap ~$4.5B, eps (ttm) ~$7.46.
The bottom line: CVSA vs LOPE
CVSA and LOPE are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CVSA and LOPE exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how CVSA or LOPE fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Covista with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how CVSA fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between CVSA and LOPE?
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Covista Inc. Grand Canyon Education (Nasdaq: LOPE) is an education services company that provides technology, counseling, marketing, financial aid processing, faculty support, and back-office operations to university partners for a share of their tuition revenue. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is CVSA or LOPE the better stock?
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Neither is universally better; they suit different views and risk levels. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, CVSA or LOPE?
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On forward P/E (as of August 2026), CVSA trades at 14.61x and LOPE at 12.84x, so LOPE is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both CVSA and LOPE?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of CVSA vs LOPE?
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CVSA: The dominant risk is federal policy rather than competition. Grad PLUS loans ended for new borrowers on 1 July 2026 and most graduate students are now capped at ~$20,500 a year and ~$100,000 lifetime, which is below the full cost of several Walden doctoral pathways and could slow the segment that has been driving enrollment growth. The wider Title IV rules matter too: the 90/10 revenue test, gainful employment metrics and accreditation reviews all apply, and a change to any of them affects the whole revenue base. The company also carries a reputational and litigation history, including a ~$28.5 million class action settlement over Walden's DBA program that received final court approval in October 2024, and consumer advocacy groups have continued to criticize the institutions after the rebrand. Operationally, Chamberlain enrollment growth decelerated to ~0.5% in fiscal Q3 2026 and GAAP net income fell year over year on refinancing and other costs, so the headline adjusted numbers and the reported ones have been moving in different directions. Fiscal Q4 and full-year results are due on 6 August 2026, and the first fiscal 2027 guidance is the first time management has to quantify the loan-cap effect. LOPE: GCE's revenue is heavily concentrated in its relationship with Grand Canyon University, so any change to that master services agreement, GCU's enrollment trends, or its regulatory standing would ripple straight through to GCE. The for-profit-adjacent education sector faces ongoing regulatory and political scrutiny, including rules governing online program managers, tuition-sharing arrangements, and Title IV federal financial aid. A shift in federal student-aid policy or accreditation standards could pressure enrollment or margins. Competition from other online program managers and education companies such as Strategic Education, Adtalem, and Perdoceo could compress pricing over time. Slower-than-expected ramp of the hybrid campuses would remove a key growth narrative the market is pricing in.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell CVSA or LOPE; figures are approximate and dated (as of August 2026). Verify current data before investing.