Stride, Inc. $LRN Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Stride by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,822 additional shares and ending with 734,291 shares valued at about $47.7 million.
• Stride’s latest quarterly results came in slightly ahead of expectations, with EPS of $2.30 versus the $2.21 consensus and revenue of $629.9 million, up 2.7% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment on the stock remains mixed: analysts currently rate Stride Hold on average, with a consensus price target of $109.75.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 734,291 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,822 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.72% of Stride worth $47,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Stride by 78.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 193 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stride by 0.4% during the third quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,615,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stride by 62.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stride by 1.8% during the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stride by 8.9% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.24% of the company's stock.

Stride Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LRN opened at $87.88 on Friday. Stride, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.61 and a fifty-two week high of $171.17. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $89.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.60. The company has a quick ratio of 6.14, a current ratio of 6.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.13.

Stride (NYSE:LRN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.09. Stride had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 25.20%. The business had revenue of $629.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $629.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Stride, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LRN. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Stride in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stride from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Stride in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Stride in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.75.

Stride Profile

Stride, Inc NYSE: LRN is a technology-driven education company that designs and delivers online learning solutions for students and adult learners. Through long-term partnerships with state-authorized public school districts, Stride operates virtual academies that serve K-12 students across the United States. The company's blended-learning model combines digital curriculum, live teaching support and data analytics to personalize instruction and monitor student progress.

In addition to its K-12 offerings, Stride provides a portfolio of career and workforce readiness programs under its Stride Career Prep division.

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