Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in analysts' outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts like Barrington Research and BMO Capital Markets have maintained "outperform" ratings with target prices of $105.00 and $88.00 respectively.
• In its most recent quarter, Strategic Education reported earnings of $1.52 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, although its revenue of $321.47 million slightly fell short of the consensus estimate.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on STRA. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Strategic Education from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $105.00 price objective on Strategic Education in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of Strategic Education stock traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.48. 77,090 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 174,198. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.17. Strategic Education has a 52 week low of $72.25 and a 52 week high of $104.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Strategic Education's payout ratio is 49.90%.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 263,217 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $22,408,000 after acquiring an additional 4,116 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP raised its stake in Strategic Education by 51.0% in the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 12,617 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 4,260 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Strategic Education by 54.3% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 395 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Strategic Education by 5.4% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 68,607 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $5,841,000 after buying an additional 3,494 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Strategic Education by 61.5% in the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 9,850 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

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.