Short Interest in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Increases By 21.1%

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 321,700 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 28th total of 265,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 170,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOPE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of LOPE traded up $2.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $179.73. The company had a trading volume of 104,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,952. Grand Canyon Education has a fifty-two week low of $126.17 and a fifty-two week high of $192.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.84. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.78.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $292.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.62 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 30.67% and a net margin of 21.90%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,513,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,870,000 after buying an additional 189,843 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 885,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,982,000 after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 883,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,159 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 494,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,033,000 after purchasing an additional 39,136 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 68.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 392,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,786,000 after purchasing an additional 159,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

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.