Legal & General Group Plc Takes $4.05 Million Position in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 52,828 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,048,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.24% of Strategic Education at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter valued at $777,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 26.6% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 275,342 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $21,097,000 after buying an additional 57,824 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at $244,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Strategic Education during the second quarter valued at about $1,014,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Strategic Education during the second quarter valued at about $1,680,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on STRA shares. Barrington Research set a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Strategic Education Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of STRA stock opened at $81.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.49. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.70 and a 1-year high of $89.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.24.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.04). Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 10.46%.The business had revenue of $321.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

Strategic Education Profile

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.