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

Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.3333.

STRA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barrington Research set a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st.

Insider Transactions at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategic Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STRA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter valued at $291,189,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 62,355.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,458,740 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $121,017,000 after buying an additional 7,346 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,089 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $70,663,000 after buying an additional 6,737 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 609,040 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $48,853,000 after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA stock 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. Strategic Education has a twelve month low of $69.70 and a twelve month high of $89.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.49.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.04). Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 10.46%.The company had revenue of $321.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Strategic Education will post 7.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

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.