Versor Investments LP Grows Holdings in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Versor Investments LP raised its position in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 111.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,113 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STRA. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 395 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,199 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,160 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,000 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,938 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STRA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Strategic Education presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.00.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ STRA opened at $96.64 on Friday. Strategic Education, Inc. has a one year low of $85.11 and a one year high of $123.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.57.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $305.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.62 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.61%. Strategic Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.