Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $147.66, but opened at $140.22. Grand Canyon Education shares last traded at $146.2680, with a volume of 68,784 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research set a $200.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.67.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Down 1.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $146.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.83.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $264.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $261.87 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 19.63%.Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOPE. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG grew its position in Grand Canyon Education by 48.9% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher‐education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non‐traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.