TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) Stock Price Down 8.6% – Here’s Why

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL)’s share price fell 8.6% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $10.71 and last traded at $10.5890. Approximately 976,933 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 4,070,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of TAL Education Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on TAL Education Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. New Street Research set a $13.60 price objective on shares of TAL Education Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded TAL Education Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised TAL Education Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TAL Education Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.80.

TAL Education Group Trading Down 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.07.

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.46. TAL Education Group had a return on equity of 24.55% and a net margin of 28.43%. The firm had revenue of $758.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $719.40 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that TAL Education Group will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at TAL Education Group

In other TAL Education Group news, insider Alex Peng sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.28, for a total transaction of $368,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,968.32. The trade was a 66.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of TAL Education Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in TAL Education Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 16,781,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,553,000 after buying an additional 2,038,071 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 53.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of TAL Education Group in the second quarter worth about $1,211,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of TAL Education Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,669,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 253.3% during the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 79,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 57,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.79% of the company’s stock.

About TAL Education Group

TAL Education Group is a Chinese education services provider that offers learning programs, educational content and related services for students. Its offerings have included tutoring and enrichment programs in subjects such as mathematics, science, Chinese and English, along with online learning tools, educational technology and other products designed to support students, parents and teachers.

The company was founded in 2003 as Xueersi and later adopted the name TAL Education Group. It historically operated a network of learning centers and online platforms serving students in China, with a focus on primary and secondary education.