Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The health services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.10), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $311.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.18 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STRA traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $79.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 80,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,091. Strategic Education has a 1 year low of $78.62 and a 1 year high of $123.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.83.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on STRA shares. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 31,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $3,116,374.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 140,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,723,690.23. This represents a 18.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 6,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total value of $589,425.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,998,189.48. This represents a 6.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.