Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on STRA. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Strategic Education from $104.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet upgraded Strategic Education from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Strategic Education from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their price target on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $131.75.

Strategic Education Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of STRA opened at $121.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $101.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.50. Strategic Education has a 12 month low of $64.53 and a 12 month high of $121.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The health services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $290.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.02 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 8.70%. Equities analysts forecast that Strategic Education will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is currently 56.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 3,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $356,262.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 71,770 shares in the company, valued at $6,886,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 3,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $356,262.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 71,770 shares in the company, valued at $6,886,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.99, for a total value of $1,230,591.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,488,850.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategic Education

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,334,695 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $123,287,000 after purchasing an additional 65,507 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 23,794 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 155.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 396,049 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $29,803,000 after purchasing an additional 241,168 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 278,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $25,716,000 after purchasing an additional 6,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 128,961 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Strategic Education

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.