Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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 changing hands.

The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $520.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $507.89 million. Stride had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 18.86%. Stride’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Stride from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Stride in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stride in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LRN. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stride by 348.1% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Stride in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Stride in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Stride in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Stride in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 98.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stride Trading Up 4.9 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.29. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a PEG 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.