Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $115.70 and last traded at $112.50, with a volume of 60628 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.65.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Strategic Education's payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on STRA. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Strategic Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

Strategic Education Trading Up 16.3 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.50.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The health services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.34. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 6.16%. The firm had revenue of $302.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Strategic Education's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 12,820 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.99, for a total value of $1,230,591.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,488,850.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 3,713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $356,262.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,886,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 12,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.99, for a total value of $1,230,591.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,488,850.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,334,695 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $123,287,000 after acquiring an additional 65,507 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,137,961 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $105,113,000 after acquiring an additional 23,794 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 155.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 396,049 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $29,803,000 after buying an additional 241,168 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 278,397 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $25,716,000 after buying an additional 6,296 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 103.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 253,390 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $23,406,000 after buying an additional 128,961 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Strategic Education Company 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.