Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on STRA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Monday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $99.33.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA stock opened at $85.92 on Monday. Strategic Education has a fifty-two week low of $72.17 and a fifty-two week high of $93.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.56.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $311.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.29 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 8.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Strategic Education will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.37, for a total transaction of $1,070,810.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,096 shares in the company, valued at $8,244,907.52. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 38,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $2,926,594.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 106,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,012,116.20. This represents a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategic Education

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 3.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,195 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 40.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 43,433 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,647,000 after purchasing an additional 12,444 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Strategic Education by 61.5% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 9,850 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Strategic Education by 54.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 395 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Strategic Education by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 263,217 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $22,408,000 after buying an additional 4,116 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Strategic Education Company Profile

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.