Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Short Interest Update

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 321,700 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 28th total of 265,700 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 170,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOPE. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,323,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,725,000 after purchasing an additional 141,648 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth $334,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth $4,833,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 224.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the third quarter valued at $1,711,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LOPE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research increased their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Grand Canyon Education stock traded up $2.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $179.73. The company had a trading volume of 104,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,952. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.78. Grand Canyon Education has a 1 year low of $126.17 and a 1 year high of $192.18.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 30.67% and a net margin of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.62 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.