Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LOPE. Barrington Research set a $200.00 price target on Grand Canyon Education in a report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $100.00 price objective on Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.67.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Down 1.4%

LOPE opened at $144.38 on Friday. Grand Canyon Education has a 1-year low of $134.27 and a 1-year high of $223.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.66.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $264.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.87 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.63% and a return on equity of 36.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter valued at about $397,654,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake 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 worth $126,358,000 after acquiring an additional 237,939 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 736,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,493,000 after purchasing an additional 99,320 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 649,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,980,000 after purchasing an additional 153,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 613,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,010,000 after purchasing an additional 90,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

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.