StockNews.com Downgrades Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on STRA. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $114.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STRA opened at $83.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. Strategic Education has a 1 year low of $78.43 and a 1 year high of $123.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.28.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The health services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $311.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.18 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Strategic Education will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 31,855 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $3,116,374.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 140,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,723,690.23. The trade was a 18.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 6,025 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $589,425.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,998,189.48. This represents a 6.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategic Education

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Strategic Education by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,258,680 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $117,586,000 after buying an additional 20,456 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Strategic Education by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 48,459 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,527,000 after buying an additional 7,926 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Strategic Education by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,425 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Strategic Education by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 30,820 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,879,000 after buying an additional 7,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Strategic Education by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 589,053 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $55,029,000 after buying an additional 34,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.