Barrington Research Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Barrington Research in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $230.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 46.20% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Grand Canyon Education currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $157.32 on Thursday. Grand Canyon Education has a 52-week low of $149.37 and a 52-week high of $223.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.39. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.74.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $308.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.92 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 33.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 6,102.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 480,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,905,000 after acquiring an additional 472,714 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,919,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 281.9% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 453,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,362,000 after buying an additional 334,486 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 135.3% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 518,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,303,000 after acquiring an additional 298,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 57.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 560,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,853,000 after purchasing an additional 204,582 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

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.