Grand Canyon Education’s (LOPE) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Barrington Research

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Barrington Research in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $205.00 target price on the stock. Barrington Research’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.55% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of LOPE traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.89. 16,597 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 191,814. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.82. Grand Canyon Education has a 52-week low of $126.17 and a 52-week high of $192.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.86.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 30.67%. The business had revenue of $292.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.62 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Grand Canyon Education by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 0.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,000. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

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.