Graham (NYSE:GHC) Trading Up 3.5% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Graham Holdings Company's stock rose 3.5% to $983.52, with a trading volume decline of 19% from its average daily volume.
• Weiss Ratings has given Graham a "buy (a-)" rating, contributing to a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" from analysts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80, payable to stockholders on November 6th, with a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $976.33 and last traded at $983.52. Approximately 27,090 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 33,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $949.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of Graham in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Graham Trading Up 3.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.30 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1,097.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $992.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Graham (NYSE:GHC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $14.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.15 by $4.18. Graham had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion.

Graham Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. Graham's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.62%.

Institutional Trading of Graham

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GHC. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graham by 3.4% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 600 shares of the company's stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graham by 15.9% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 767 shares of the company's stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Graham in the first quarter worth about $375,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graham by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,282,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Graham by 244.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,628 shares of the company's stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graham Company Profile

Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company in the United States and internationally. It provides test preparation services and materials; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global; operations support services for online courses and programs; training and test preparation services for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates colleges, business school, higher education institution, and an online learning institution.

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