Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Grows Stake in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,425 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Stride were worth $2,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LRN. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Stride in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Stride by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 386 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Stride by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Stride during the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Stride by 372.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Stride from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barrington Research raised their price target on Stride from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stride in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stride in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.83.

Stride Price Performance

Stride stock opened at $156.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.74. Stride, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.25 and a 52 week high of $162.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 6.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.07). Stride had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $613.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Stride, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stride Company Profile

Stride, Inc, a technology-based education service company, engages in the provision of proprietary and third-party online curriculum, software systems, and educational services in the United States and internationally. Its technology-based products and services enable clients to attract, enroll, educate, track progress, support, and facilitate individualized learning for students.