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

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

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $79.85. The company had a trading volume of 80,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,091. Strategic Education has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $123.62. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $96.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.83.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 3.01%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on STRA shares. Barrington Research decreased their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $122.25.

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.