Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $58.20, but opened at $64.65. Stride shares last traded at $62.63, with a volume of 437,502 shares trading hands.

The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.13. Stride had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business had revenue of $520.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $507.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Stride from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Stride from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Stride from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stride currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stride

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Stride by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Stride by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 29,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Stride by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Cim LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. 98.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stride Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 4.44 and a current ratio of 4.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.26.

About Stride

Stride, Inc, a technology-based education service company, provides proprietary and third-party online curriculum, software systems, and educational services to facilitate individualized learning for students primarily in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) in the United States and internationally.