Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stake in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Strategic Education Inc. by 9.5%, owning approximately 2.67% of the company after acquiring an additional 56,182 shares, valued at $54.17 million.
• A number of institutional investors, including Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, significantly increased their positions in Strategic Education during the same quarter.
• Strategic Education declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 49.90%

Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 645,235 shares of the health services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,182 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 2.67% of Strategic Education worth $54,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STRA. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Strategic Education in the first quarter worth about $31,497,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Strategic Education by 17.3% in the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,475,831 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $123,911,000 after acquiring an additional 217,151 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Strategic Education by 129.9% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 139,374 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $11,702,000 after acquiring an additional 78,740 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Strategic Education by 229.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 65,113 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $5,467,000 after acquiring an additional 45,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. grew its position in Strategic Education by 86.4% in the first quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 91,804 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $7,721,000 after acquiring an additional 42,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Strategic Education from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Strategic Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.33.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In other news, Director G Thomas Waite III sold 700 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.69, for a total transaction of $57,183.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,994.94. The trade was a 4.21% 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 purchased 1,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $81.50 per share, with a total value of $154,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,487,084. This represents a 1.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Strategic Education stock opened at $83.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.35. Strategic Education Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.25 and a fifty-two week high of $104.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.69.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm had revenue of $321.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $322.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Strategic Education's payout ratio is currently 49.90%.

Strategic Education Profile

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.

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