Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Strategic Education

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Strategic Education by 18.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,743 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Strategic Education by 78.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,396 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 3,248 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Strategic Education by 1.3% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,984 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Strategic Education by 7.3% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Strategic Education by 83.0% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,817 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 5,358 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STRA opened at $98.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.83. Strategic Education has a 52-week low of $85.11 and a 52-week high of $123.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.35. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $305.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Strategic Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Strategic Education will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.