Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating 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 lowered 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 morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA stock traded down $1.01 on Friday, hitting $73.87. 160,234 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 174,606. Strategic Education has a one year low of $72.25 and a one year high of $104.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.84 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Strategic Education will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Strategic Education's payout ratio is 49.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,874 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $3,538,000 after purchasing an additional 6,180 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,793,685 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $260,986,000 after acquiring an additional 45,421 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,715,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Strategic Education by 207.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 175,141 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $16,362,000 after buying an additional 118,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 39,603 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $3,700,000 after buying an additional 6,935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

About Strategic Education

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.