Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) to Issue $0.60 Quarterly Dividend

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 0.60 per share by the health services provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%.

Strategic Education has a dividend payout ratio of 35.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Strategic Education to earn $5.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.6%.

Strategic Education Trading Down 18.5 %

Shares of STRA opened at $79.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. Strategic Education has a 12 month low of $79.37 and a 12 month high of $123.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $96.58 and its 200-day moving average is $94.83.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The health services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $311.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.18 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. Equities research analysts predict that Strategic Education will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

In other news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 31,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $3,116,374.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 140,281 shares in the company, valued at $13,723,690.23. This represents a 18.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 6,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total value of $589,425.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,998,189.48. This represents a 6.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STRA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research lowered their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.25.

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.