TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) Stock Now Rated "Buy" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give TAL Education Group an average “Buy” rating based on four brokerages: two buys, one strong buy and one hold. The average 12-month price target is $14.80, versus the reported share price of $12.64.
• TAL exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.75 in EPS versus the $0.29 consensus estimate and revenue of $758.38 million, ahead of the $719.40 million forecast.
• Institutional investors own 37.79% of the company, with several major funds increasing their positions, while insider ownership is just 1.81% and an insider recently sold 30,000 shares.

Shares of TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.80.

TAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of TAL Education Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of TAL Education Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of TAL Education Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. New Street Research set a $13.60 price objective on shares of TAL Education Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of TAL Education Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alex Peng sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.28, for a total transaction of $368,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,144 shares in the company, valued at $185,968.32. This trade represents a 66.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TAL Education Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,395,434 shares of the company's stock worth $84,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546,549 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of TAL Education Group during the 1st quarter worth $13,010,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of TAL Education Group by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,435,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,575,000 after acquiring an additional 688,185 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of TAL Education Group by 315.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 701,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,977,000 after acquiring an additional 532,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of TAL Education Group by 81.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,096,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,494,000 after acquiring an additional 490,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.79% of the company's stock.

TAL Education Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:TAL opened at $12.64 on Wednesday. TAL Education Group has a 12-month low of $8.88 and a 12-month high of $13.37. The company has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 7.85, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.05.

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $758.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $719.40 million. TAL Education Group had a return on equity of 24.55% and a net margin of 28.43%. Equities research analysts predict that TAL Education Group will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TAL Education Group Company Profile

TAL Education Group is a Chinese education and learning services company that provides programs, products and services designed to support students and families. The company serves primarily school-age learners and has historically operated through a combination of physical learning centers, online platforms and technology-enabled educational offerings.

Founded in 2003 as Xueersi, TAL became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010. Its business has included academic and enrichment programs, educational content, learning applications, tutoring services and related technology products.

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