Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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.

The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.13. Stride had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $520.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $507.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LRN shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Stride from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Stride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on Stride from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Stride from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stride

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stride by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,969,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,777,000 after buying an additional 28,661 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Stride by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 570,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares in the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Stride by 348.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Stride by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 531,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,912,000 after buying an additional 8,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC increased its position in Stride by 89.1% during the third quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,296,000 after buying an additional 222,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Stock Up 7.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 4.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.16. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.26.

Stride Company Profile

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.