Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.86-$2.89 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.91. The company issued revenue guidance of $289-$290 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $289.30 million. Grand Canyon Education also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.020-8.050 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LOPE. Barrington Research upped their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock traded up $8.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $172.52. 504,597 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 162,311. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $139.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.66. Grand Canyon Education has a 12-month low of $118.48 and a 12-month high of $172.88. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.09% and a return on equity of 31.20%. The firm had revenue of $238.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of Grand Canyon Education stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total transaction of $211,845.00. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.