Royal Bank of Canada Reduces Stock Position in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its position in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 58.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 268,516 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 373,326 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.19% of Strategic Education worth $22,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Strategic Education during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,284,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 343.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,231 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 17,990 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,741 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Strategic Education during the 1st quarter valued at $589,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Strategic Education by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 454,509 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $37,706,000 after acquiring an additional 106,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of Strategic Education stock opened at $83.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.35 and a 200 day moving average of $80.14. Strategic Education Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.70 and a fifty-two week high of $89.73.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.04). Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $321.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Strategic Education’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STRA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Strategic Education Profile

Strategic Education, Inc is a publicly traded higher education services holding company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. Through its primary operating subsidiaries, Strayer University and Capella University, the company delivers degree programs and professional development opportunities to working adults. Its offerings span undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, continuing education, and workforce training in fields such as business, technology, health services, education, and public administration.

Strayer University, with a network of physical campuses across the United States complemented by an online platform, provides associate’s through doctoral degrees designed to accommodate non-traditional students.