Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $58.20, but opened at $64.65. Stride shares last traded at $62.63, with a volume of 437,502 shares traded.

The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.13. Stride had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $520.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $507.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Stride’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LRN shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Stride from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Stride in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Stride from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Stride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Stride from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Stride by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,969,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,777,000 after acquiring an additional 28,661 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Stride by 148.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 27,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 16,579 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Stride by 89.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 118,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after purchasing an additional 55,641 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Stride by 38.1% in the third quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 48,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 13,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Stride by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 531,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,912,000 after purchasing an additional 8,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.26 and a 200 day moving average of $58.25. The company has a quick ratio of 4.44, a current ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.26.

Stride Company Profile

Stride, Inc, a technology-based education service company, provides proprietary and third-party online curriculum, software systems, and educational services to facilitate individualized learning for students primarily in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) in the United States and internationally.