Graham (NYSE:GHC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.41 EPS

Key Points

• Graham exceeded earnings expectations, reporting quarterly EPS of $18.77 versus the $18.36 consensus estimate. Revenue totaled $1.33 billion, in line with expectations.
• Shares fell 1.0% to $1,158.71 after the results, while Graham announced a quarterly dividend of $1.88, representing a $7.52 annualized payout and a 0.6% yield.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with recent rating upgrades and an overall “Strong Buy” consensus from the two analysts covering the stock.

Graham (NYSE:GHC - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $18.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $18.36 by $0.41, FiscalAI reports. Graham had a net margin of 10.69% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion.

Graham Trading Down 1.0%

GHC stock traded down $11.38 during trading on Thursday, hitting $1,158.71. The company had a trading volume of 28,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,740. Graham has a 52-week low of $990.09 and a 52-week high of $1,262.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,161.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,136.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Graham Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Graham's dividend payout ratio is 6.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GHC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Graham from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Graham from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graham currently has an average rating of "Strong Buy".

Graham Company Profile

Graham Holdings Company is a diversified American holding company formerly known as The Washington Post Company. The company changed its name in 2013 after the sale of the newspaper publishing business to Jeff Bezos. Today, Graham Holdings operates a portfolio of businesses across education, media, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing and other industries.

Its largest business is Kaplan, a provider of educational services, professional training and test preparation. Graham Holdings also owns Graham Media Group, which operates local television stations in several U.S.

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