Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.00.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their price objective on Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Strategic Education Price Performance

STRA stock opened at $78.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.43. Strategic Education has a fifty-two week low of $69.70 and a fifty-two week high of $93.45.

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

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is 42.40%.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In related news, Director Michael Thawley bought 665 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.71 per share, with a total value of $48,352.15. Following the acquisition, the director owned 12,154 shares in the company, valued at $883,717.34. This trade represents a 5.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 38,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $2,926,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 106,332 shares in the company, valued at $8,012,116.20. This trade represents a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 62,420 shares of company stock worth $4,843,218 in the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STRA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 62,355.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,467,702 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $117,710,000 after buying an additional 1,465,352 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 188.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 245,296 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $20,882,000 after buying an additional 160,303 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 155.7% in the third quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 234,719 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $20,188,000 after buying an additional 142,915 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 115.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 216,117 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $18,588,000 after buying an additional 115,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at about $9,615,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.