Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on STRA. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an outperform rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $132.25.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STRA opened at $92.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.56. Strategic Education has a fifty-two week low of $74.43 and a fifty-two week high of $123.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.76.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.14. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business had revenue of $312.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Strategic Education will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 56.87%.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In related news, Director Viet D. Dinh bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $95.59 per share, with a total value of $477,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,711.80. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Strategic Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Strategic Education in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 2,650.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 330 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.