Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

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

Strategic Education Price Performance

NASDAQ:STRA opened at $92.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.56. Strategic Education has a 52 week low of $74.43 and a 52 week high of $123.62.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Viet D. Dinh purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $95.59 per share, for a total transaction of $477,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,711.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,511,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 33,936 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 118,000.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,137,961 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $105,113,000 after buying an additional 23,794 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 103.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 253,390 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $23,406,000 after buying an additional 128,961 shares during the period. 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.