StockNews.com Lowers Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an outperform rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $132.25.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Strategic Education stock opened at $86.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Strategic Education has a 12-month low of $76.94 and a 12-month high of $123.62.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $312.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.16 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 7.47%. Strategic Education’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Strategic Education will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is currently 56.87%.

Insider Transactions at Strategic Education

In other news, Director Viet D. Dinh purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.59 per share, for a total transaction of $477,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,020 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,711.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategic Education

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STRA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Strategic Education by 103.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 253,390 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $23,406,000 after buying an additional 128,961 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 32.8% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,911 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Strategic Education by 18.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,743 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Strategic Education by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,396 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 3,248 shares during the period. 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.