SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 62.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 100,212 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,681 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $8,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Strategic Education by 88.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 294 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Strategic Education by 154.2% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 333 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Strategic Education by 85.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 387 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new position in Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Strategic Education by 305.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 616 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA opened at $78.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.51. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.70 and a 1 year high of $87.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.34.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The health services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $305.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.81 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.21%.The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STRA. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their target price on Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.00.

Insider Transactions at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 65,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael Thawley bought 665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $72.71 per share, for a total transaction of $48,352.15. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,154 shares in the company, valued at $883,717.34. This trade represents a 5.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc is a publicly traded higher education services holding company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. Through its primary operating subsidiaries, Strayer University and Capella University, the company delivers degree programs and professional development opportunities to working adults. Its offerings span undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, continuing education, and workforce training in fields such as business, technology, health services, education, and public administration.

Strayer University, with a network of physical campuses across the United States complemented by an online platform, provides associate’s through doctoral degrees designed to accommodate non-traditional students.