Stride (NYSE:LRN) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $72.43, but opened at $90.00. Stride shares last traded at $85.74, with a volume of 2,717,455 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Stride in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Stride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Stride from $130.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stride presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.75.

Stride Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 7.27 and a quick ratio of 6.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.27.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $620.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $615.50 million. Stride had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Stride, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Stride during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stride during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stride in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Stride by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Stride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 98.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stride Company Profile

Stride, Inc (NYSE:LRN) is a technology-driven education company that designs and delivers online learning solutions for students and adult learners. Through long-term partnerships with state-authorized public school districts, Stride operates virtual academies that serve K-12 students across the United States. The company’s blended-learning model combines digital curriculum, live teaching support and data analytics to personalize instruction and monitor student progress.

In addition to its K-12 offerings, Stride provides a portfolio of career and workforce readiness programs under its Stride Career Prep division.