Wall Street Zen Downgrades Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) to Hold

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LOPE. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.67.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Down 4.0%

NASDAQ LOPE opened at $146.50 on Friday. Grand Canyon Education has a 1-year low of $134.27 and a 1-year high of $223.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.05 and a 200-day moving average of $158.91. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.57.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.14. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 19.63%.The business had revenue of $264.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the second quarter worth approximately $1,872,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $795,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter valued at $397,654,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter worth $7,638,000. Finally, Crown Advisors Management Inc. bought a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter worth $5,009,000. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher?education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non?traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.