Brokerages Set Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Target Price at $132.25

Shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the four analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $132.25.

A number of research firms have recently commented on STRA. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of STRA stock opened at $93.23 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.17. Strategic Education has a fifty-two week low of $74.43 and a fifty-two week high of $123.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $312.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.16 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 9.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Strategic Education will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

In other news, Director Viet D. Dinh purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.59 per share, for a total transaction of $477,950.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,711.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategic Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Strategic Education in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 2,650.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 330 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Strategic Education during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Strategic Education during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Company Profile

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.