Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Short Interest Up 28.9% in February

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,100,968 shares, a growth of 28.9% from the February 12th total of 854,308 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 413,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 413,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth $32,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LOPE shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Grand Canyon Education stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $163.97. The company had a trading volume of 286,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,842. Grand Canyon Education has a 12-month low of $149.37 and a 12-month high of $223.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.72.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $308.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.92 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 33.28% and a net margin of 19.54%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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.