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

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Barrington Research in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $180.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.38% from the company’s current price.

LOPE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of LOPE opened at $170.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.75. Grand Canyon Education has a twelve month low of $118.48 and a twelve month high of $176.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $165.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.77.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.69 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.09% and a return on equity of 31.01%. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.07, for a total transaction of $249,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 21,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,516,366.18. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter valued at approximately $454,000. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter valued at $371,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the 2nd quarter valued at about $109,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 1.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services.