Strategic Education Inc (NASDAQ:STRA) – Equities researchers at First Analysis issued their FY2018 earnings estimates for shares of Strategic Education in a research note issued on Monday, February 18th, according to Zacks Investment Research. First Analysis analyst C. Greendale expects that the health services provider will post earnings of $4.73 per share for the year. First Analysis also issued estimates for Strategic Education’s Q4 2018 earnings at $1.72 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $6.36 EPS.
STRA has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 2nd. BidaskClub cut shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $131.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, ValuEngine cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Strategic Education currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.25.
Shares of NASDAQ:STRA traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $138.29. 228,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 166,196. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.00. Strategic Education has a one year low of $97.18 and a one year high of $154.89.
Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The health services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $242.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.39 million. Strategic Education had a negative net margin of 2.47% and a positive return on equity of 9.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 103.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.11%.
In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 5,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total value of $773,040.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,497 shares in the company, valued at $6,776,871.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas J. Aprahamian sold 2,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.24, for a total transaction of $366,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,641,876.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,063 shares of company stock worth $1,419,175 in the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Enlightenment Research LLC purchased a new stake in Strategic Education in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Strategic Education in the third quarter worth about $129,000. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Strategic Education by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Strategic Education by 87.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,185 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Strategic Education by 141.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,244 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.27% of the company’s stock.
Strategic Education Company Profile
Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of post-secondary education and other academic programs in the United States. The company operates Strayer University and Capella University that provide undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, accounting, information technology, education, health services administration, nursing, public administration, and criminal justice to working adult students through its 74 physical campuses primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions, as well as through online.