Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Stride shares gapped up ahead of Thursday’s open, rising from a prior close of $83.39 to an opening price of $86.80 and last trading around $86.31.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but generally cautious: the stock has an average Hold rating, with a consensus price target of $109.75 and three Buy ratings versus four Hold ratings.
• Stride’s latest earnings beat expectations, posting $2.30 EPS versus the $2.21 estimate while revenue of $629.87 million slightly topped forecasts and rose 2.7% year over year.

Shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $83.39, but opened at $86.80. Stride shares last traded at $86.3050, with a volume of 55,038 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Stride in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Stride in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Stride in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stride in a report on Monday, June 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stride currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.75.

Stride Trading Up 4.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.14, a current ratio of 6.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.87.

Stride (NYSE:LRN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.09. Stride had a return on equity of 25.20% and a net margin of 12.15%.The business had revenue of $629.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $629.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Stride's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Stride, Inc. will post 8.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stride by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,883,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,090,000 after buying an additional 340,838 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Stride by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 40,383 shares of the company's stock worth $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 10,541 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Stride by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 369,928 shares of the company's stock worth $24,019,000 after acquiring an additional 137,775 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Stride in the fourth quarter valued at $988,000. Finally, Maxi Investments CY Ltd bought a new position in shares of Stride in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,000,000. 98.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Stride

Stride, Inc NYSE: LRN is a technology-driven education company that designs and delivers online learning solutions for students and adult learners. Through long-term partnerships with state-authorized public school districts, Stride operates virtual academies that serve K-12 students across the United States. The company's blended-learning model combines digital curriculum, live teaching support and data analytics to personalize instruction and monitor student progress.

In addition to its K-12 offerings, Stride provides a portfolio of career and workforce readiness programs under its Stride Career Prep division.

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