Latest Ratios: P/E Ratio 83.2x · EV/EBITDA 37.3x · ROE 10.6%. (2001–2025 historical series)
Price-based multiples — how expensive the stock is relative to earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $1.7B | $755M | $489M | $307M | $150M | $187M | $161M | $66M | $78M | $48M | $45M |
| Enterprise Value | $1.9B | $930M | $607M | $347M | $204M | $202M | $201M | $132M | $109M | $86M | $66M |
| P/E Ratio → | 83.25 | 37.15 | 49.44 | 11.81 | 16.08 | 7.18 | 4.36 | 34.48 | — | — | — |
| P/S Ratio | 3.31 | 1.46 | 1.11 | 0.81 | 0.43 | 0.56 | 0.55 | 0.24 | 0.30 | 0.18 | 0.23 |
| P/B Ratio | 8.47 | 3.78 | 2.74 | 1.84 | 1.03 | 1.32 | 1.56 | 1.20 | 1.96 | 1.05 | 0.62 |
| P/FCF | — | — | — | — | — | 9.41 | 8.98 | — | — | — | — |
| P/OCF | 29.00 | 12.75 | 16.68 | 12.00 | 169.89 | 6.83 | 6.85 | 67.10 | — | — | — |
P/E links to full P/E history page with 30-year chart
Enterprise-value multiples — capital-structure-neutral measures of total business value
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV / Revenue | — | 1.80 | 1.38 | 0.92 | 0.59 | 0.60 | 0.69 | 0.48 | 0.42 | 0.33 | 0.33 |
| EV / EBITDA | 37.29 | 18.34 | 22.90 | 8.66 | 9.03 | 3.58 | 9.07 | 9.87 | 24.48 | 21.66 | 11.17 |
| EV / EBIT | 63.26 | 31.11 | 35.13 | 9.65 | 12.32 | 4.10 | 13.69 | 25.13 | — | — | — |
| EV / FCF | — | — | — | — | — | 10.14 | 11.24 | — | — | — | — |
Margins and return-on-capital ratios measuring operating efficiency
Full margin charts and quarterly trend are on the Earnings History page
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 60.4% | 60.4% | 58.7% | 57.1% | 57.3% | 58.6% | 58.3% | 54.8% | 52.4% | 50.6% | 51.8% |
| Operating Margin | 5.8% | 5.8% | 3.4% | 8.8% | 4.7% | 14.7% | 5.0% | 1.9% | -1.5% | -1.8% | -2.6% |
| Net Profit Margin | 3.9% | 3.9% | 2.2% | 6.9% | 3.6% | 10.4% | 16.6% | 0.7% | -2.5% | -4.4% | -14.4% |
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROE | 10.6% | 10.6% | 5.7% | 16.7% | 8.8% | 28.4% | 61.4% | 4.2% | -15.3% | -19.4% | -36.9% |
| ROA | 4.3% | 4.3% | 2.5% | 8.2% | 4.3% | 12.8% | 22.1% | 1.2% | -4.3% | -7.2% | -15.2% |
| ROIC | 6.7% | 6.7% | 4.5% | 12.3% | 6.9% | 24.7% | 8.4% | 4.1% | -3.8% | -4.0% | -4.0% |
| ROCE | 8.1% | 8.1% | 4.9% | 13.1% | 7.0% | 24.2% | 9.4% | 4.8% | -4.2% | -4.7% | -4.4% |
Solvency and debt-coverage ratios — lower is generally safer
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debt / Equity | 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.00 | 0.70 | 0.69 | 0.69 | 0.76 | 1.62 | 1.22 | 1.15 | 0.58 |
| Debt / EBITDA | 4.02 | 4.02 | 6.70 | 2.91 | 4.44 | 1.74 | 3.54 | 6.68 | 10.92 | 13.19 | 7.11 |
| Net Debt / Equity | — | 0.88 | 0.66 | 0.24 | 0.38 | 0.10 | 0.39 | 1.19 | 0.78 | 0.83 | 0.29 |
| Net Debt / EBITDA | 3.46 | 3.46 | 4.46 | 1.02 | 2.41 | 0.26 | 1.82 | 4.91 | 6.98 | 9.54 | 3.54 |
| Debt / FCF | — | — | — | — | — | 0.73 | 2.26 | — | — | — | — |
| Interest Coverage | 8.81 | 8.81 | 6.74 | 103.71 | 103.72 | 24.45 | 11.53 | 1.77 | -1.62 | -0.66 | -3.58 |
Short-term solvency ratios and asset-utilisation metrics
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Ratio | 0.86 | 0.86 | 1.23 | 1.83 | 2.07 | 1.85 | 1.11 | 0.88 | 0.88 | 0.93 | 0.97 |
| Quick Ratio | 0.82 | 0.82 | 1.20 | 1.79 | 2.03 | 1.80 | 1.07 | 0.85 | 0.86 | 0.90 | 0.95 |
| Cash Ratio | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0.66 | 1.04 | 1.11 | 1.26 | 0.57 | 0.41 | 0.27 | 0.31 | 0.31 |
| Asset Turnover | — | 1.05 | 1.01 | 1.10 | 1.19 | 1.14 | 1.20 | 1.40 | 1.80 | 1.69 | 1.21 |
| Inventory Turnover | 51.53 | 51.53 | 59.53 | 55.05 | 56.82 | 51.06 | 51.04 | 76.80 | 86.40 | 78.10 | 89.72 |
| Days Sales Outstanding | — | 40.97 | 35.65 | 34.46 | 38.96 | 28.47 | 37.39 | 27.58 | 25.90 | 22.01 | 28.51 |
Earnings, FCF, buyback, and dividend yields — total returns to shareholders
Full dividend history and growth charts are on the Dividend History page
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend Yield | — | — | — | — | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.9% | — | — | — | — |
| Payout Ratio | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings Yield | 1.2% | 2.7% | 2.0% | 8.5% | 6.2% | 13.9% | 22.9% | 2.9% | — | — | — |
| FCF Yield | — | — | — | — | — | 10.6% | 11.1% | — | — | — | — |
| Buyback Yield | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 6.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Total Shareholder Yield | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 7.0% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Shares Outstanding | — | $31M | $31M | $31M | $26M | $25M | $25M | $25M | $24M | $24M | $23M |
Regulatory Title IV Compliance
According to current market data, LINC trades at a 76.75x TTM P/E ratio, which appears significantly elevated compared to peers like Perdoceo Education at 13.77x, suggesting that investors are pricing in aggressive future growth expectations that remain disconnected from the company's historically thin net profit margins.
The valuation premium implies a market expectation of rapid earnings expansion that the current 3.86% net margin profile has yet to justify. Investors should monitor whether this multiple reflects a genuine growth inflection or merely a speculative mispricing of the company's vocational training recovery.
Based on reported figures, LINC's ROIC has struggled to exceed 3.6% in recent quarters, a performance that lags significantly behind industry peers like Grand Canyon Education, which consistently delivers ROIC levels above 30% through more scalable, digital-first educational delivery models.
The low return on invested capital highlights the heavy burden of maintaining physical vocational campuses, which require constant reinvestment in specialized machinery. This suggests that the company's current business model may be structurally limited in its ability to compound capital efficiently compared to less asset-intensive competitors.
As indicated by quarterly financial statements, LINC's cash conversion cycle has fluctuated wildly from -28 days in 2025Q1 to 0 days in 2026Q1, reflecting the inherent difficulty in managing student tuition receivables against the high fixed costs of maintaining specialized trade school facilities.
The inconsistency in the cash conversion cycle suggests that management faces ongoing challenges in aligning student enrollment timing with operational cash outflows. This volatility warrants further investigation into whether the company's collection processes are sufficiently robust to handle potential shifts in student withdrawal rates.
According to recent balance sheet filings, LINC's debt-to-equity ratio has climbed to 1.04, a notable increase from 0.70 in 2023Q4, which suggests that the company is increasingly utilizing external financing to support its aggressive expansion of physical campus infrastructure and specialized vocational equipment.
While the current leverage remains manageable, the upward trend in debt-to-EBITDA ratios indicates that the company's capacity to absorb further operational shocks is diminishing. Investors should monitor whether this debt accumulation will lead to increased interest coverage pressure if enrollment growth fails to meet management's internal targets.
As reported in financial statements, the P/E ratio is a misleading metric for LINC because it fails to account for the high volatility in non-recurring items and the significant bad debt provisions inherent in the for-profit education sector's revenue recognition process.
Analysts should instead focus on EV/EBITDA or free cash flow yield, as these metrics better capture the company's ability to generate actual cash after accounting for the heavy capital expenditures required to maintain its physical footprint. Relying on P/E ratios likely obscures the underlying earnings quality and the impact of regulatory compliance costs on the bottom line.
Includes 30+ ratios · 24 years · Updated daily
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Quick answers to the most common questions about buying LINC stock.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's current P/E ratio is 83.2x. The historical average is 20.9x. This places it at the 100th percentile of its historical range.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's current EV/EBITDA is 37.3x. This enterprise value multiple compares the company's total value (equity + debt - cash) to its EBITDA. The historical average is 10.2x.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's return on equity (ROE) is 10.6%. The historical average is 4.5%.
Based on historical data, Lincoln Educational Services Corporation is trading at a P/E of 83.2x. This is at the 100th percentile of its historical P/E range. Compare with industry peers and growth rates for a complete picture.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation has 60.4% gross margin and 5.8% operating margin.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation's Debt/EBITDA ratio is 4.0x, indicating high leverage. A ratio above 4x may signal elevated financial risk.