Commerce Bank Takes Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crown Advisors Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,009,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $148,667,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 523.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 194,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,370,000 after purchasing an additional 163,397 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,980,000. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 613,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,010,000 after purchasing an additional 90,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $148.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.27 and a 52-week high of $223.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.57.

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

Grand Canyon Education 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.