MSH Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,104 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $851,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Strategic Education by 88.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 294 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 154.2% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 333 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 85.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 387 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in Strategic Education during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

In other news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,600. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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

Strategic Education stock opened at $82.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.49. Strategic Education Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.70 and a fifty-two week high of $89.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.94.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $321.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.55 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STRA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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 lifted their target price on Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $105.00 price target on Strategic Education in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

About Strategic Education

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.