Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Makes New $37.86 Million Investment in Stride, Inc. $LRN

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 438,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,858,000. Stride accounts for approximately 1.8% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LRN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Stride in the fourth quarter valued at $72,871,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Stride by 61.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,277,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,799,000 after buying an additional 862,849 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Stride by 98.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,631,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,938,000 after acquiring an additional 808,141 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Stride by 254.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 688,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,686,000 after acquiring an additional 494,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Stride by 682.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 562,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,513,000 after acquiring an additional 490,445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Stock Up 0.3%

LRN stock opened at $83.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.94, a quick ratio of 5.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.11. Stride, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.61 and a 1-year high of $171.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.40.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.48. Stride had a return on equity of 23.49% and a net margin of 13.43%.The business had revenue of $636.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stride, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair downgraded shares of Stride from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stride in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.75.

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.