Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Rating Increased 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 released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on STRA. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $132.25.

Strategic Education Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:STRA opened at $92.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.56. Strategic Education has a one year low of $74.43 and a one year 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.76.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.14. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $312.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.59%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.87%.

Insider Transactions at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, Director Viet D. Dinh acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 20,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,711.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Strategic Education

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshfield Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 0.5% in the second quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,820,621 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $201,470,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Strategic Education by 3.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,447,810 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $160,212,000 after buying an additional 48,462 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Strategic Education by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,209,100 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $133,799,000 after acquiring an additional 25,269 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its position in Strategic Education by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 450,928 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $49,900,000 after acquiring an additional 2,749 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Strategic Education by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 369,728 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $40,914,000 after acquiring an additional 25,455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Company Profile

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.