Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.69 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 21.88%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of LOPE stock traded up $3.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $163.54. 478,934 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 179,502. The firm has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.70. Grand Canyon Education has a fifty-two week low of $118.48 and a fifty-two week high of $164.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on LOPE. Barrington Research raised their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Activity at Grand Canyon Education

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of Grand Canyon Education stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total transaction of $211,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 22,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,202,249.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services.