Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barrington Research reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

LOPE stock opened at $141.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.69. Grand Canyon Education has a 12 month low of $112.38 and a 12 month high of $157.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.04.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $227.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.56 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 21.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,005,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,363,000 after purchasing an additional 24,871 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 1.3% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 850,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,971,000 after acquiring an additional 11,179 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 756,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,908,000 after acquiring an additional 11,540 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Grand Canyon Education by 1.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,197,000 after acquiring an additional 12,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 47.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 538,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,452,000 after purchasing an additional 173,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.