Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Stock Price Down 3.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) were down 3.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $92.01 and last traded at $92.01. Approximately 96,202 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 130,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their price target on Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

Strategic Education Trading Down 2.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.25.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.35. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $305.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Strategic Education’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Strategic Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STRA. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 19.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 43,755 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,050,000 after acquiring an additional 7,203 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Strategic Education during the third quarter worth about $702,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Strategic Education by 7.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 313,727 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $29,035,000 after acquiring an additional 20,389 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 7.4% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Bode LLC bought a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,028,000. 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.