Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $520.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $507.89 million. Stride had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LRN. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Stride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stride currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stride

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Stride by 348.7% during the third quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 563,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,362,000 after purchasing an additional 437,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Stride during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,594,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its stake in Stride by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,296,000 after acquiring an additional 222,866 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Stride by 147.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 312,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,526,000 after buying an additional 186,099 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Stride by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 325,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,672,000 after buying an additional 106,091 shares during the period. 98.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stride Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.25.

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.