Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $136.88 and last traded at $136.50, with a volume of 28799 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LOPE shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 price target on Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Grand Canyon Education currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.57.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.08. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 34.72% and a net margin of 19.54%.The firm had revenue of $308.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 24.0% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 391,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,093,000 after purchasing an additional 75,758 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 36.9% in the second quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 882,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,358,000 after purchasing an additional 237,939 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 178.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 51,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,406,000 after buying an additional 33,173 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher?education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non?traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.