Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 12,437 Shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,628 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,437 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of Strategic Education worth $11,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Strategic Education by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Strategic Education by 83.0% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,817 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 5,358 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Strategic Education by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 984 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Strategic Education by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,183,831 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $123,260,000 after buying an additional 45,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Strategic Education by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 35,276 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,669,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STRA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered 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 research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.00.

Strategic Education Price Performance

NASDAQ STRA opened at $95.56 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $90.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.43. Strategic Education, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.11 and a 52-week high of $123.62.

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

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Strategic Education Company Profile

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.