Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from five analysts, with an average 1-year target price of $208.67.
• Recent institutional investments in Grand Canyon Education include a 57.5% increase in shares by Invesco Ltd. during the second quarter, indicating strong interest from hedge funds.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $1.53, exceeding estimates, with a revenue increase of 8.8% year-over-year.

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $208.6667.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $222.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 3.9% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 982,698 shares of the company's stock worth $185,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36,546 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 3.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 597,567 shares of the company's stock worth $112,940,000 after purchasing an additional 20,485 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 57.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 560,068 shares of the company's stock worth $105,853,000 after purchasing an additional 204,582 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 12.9% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 407,282 shares of the company's stock worth $76,976,000 after purchasing an additional 46,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 1.7% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 392,672 shares of the company's stock worth $74,215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Down 3.1%

NASDAQ LOPE opened at $209.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.76. Grand Canyon Education has a 52 week low of $130.69 and a 52 week high of $220.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $202.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.80.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.16. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.50% and a net margin of 22.15%.The business had revenue of $247.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education's revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current year.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services.

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