Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The health services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.10), Zacks reports. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $311.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.18 million.

Strategic Education Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ STRA traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $81.21. The company had a trading volume of 267,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,591. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. Strategic Education has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $123.62. The business's 50-day moving average is $96.33 and its 200-day moving average is $94.75.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Strategic Education's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on STRA. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $114.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Strategic Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their price objective on Strategic Education from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.25.

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Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In other news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 6,025 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $589,425.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,998,189.48. This trade represents a 6.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 31,855 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $3,116,374.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 140,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,723,690.23. This represents a 18.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.