Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on STRA. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barrington Research set a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st.

Strategic Education Trading Down 0.5%

STRA opened at $82.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.49. Strategic Education has a 1 year low of $69.70 and a 1 year high of $89.73.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 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 firm had revenue of $321.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.55 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Strategic Education will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued 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 presently 40.00%.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In related news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 65,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STRA. Bastion Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 409.3% in the 4th quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,209 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,644,000 after acquiring an additional 57,228 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 302.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 63,667 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,106,000 after purchasing an additional 47,853 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 568.8% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 36,765 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after buying an additional 31,268 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 343.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,231 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after buying an additional 17,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 62.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 100,212 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $8,314,000 after buying an additional 38,681 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently 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.