Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Short Interest Update

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 485,800 shares, a growth of 74.5% from the May 31st total of 278,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 143,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on STRA shares. Barrington Research boosted their target price on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised Strategic Education from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Strategic Education from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Strategic Education presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Strategic Education news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 250 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.55, for a total transaction of $29,637.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,442.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.55, for a total value of $29,637.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,442.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.50, for a total value of $42,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,345 shares in the company, valued at $1,389,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,062 shares of company stock worth $128,410 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Strategic Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STRA. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Strategic Education by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 17,924 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Strategic Education by 1.3% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,984 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Strategic Education by 27.8% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Strategic Education by 3.2% in the first quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,651 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Strategic Education by 32.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 984 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STRA traded up $1.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $110.66. 375,647 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 118,803. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.49 and a 200 day moving average of $102.92. Strategic Education has a 52-week low of $64.53 and a 52-week high of $123.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The health services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $290.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.02 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 8.70%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Strategic Education will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.87%.

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.