Grand Canyon Education Inc (LOPE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Grand Canyon Education Inc (NASDAQ:LOPE) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.75.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LOPE shares. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 25th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barrington Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Monday, April 16th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

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Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ostrum Asset Management acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 1st quarter valued at about $132,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Koch Industries Inc. acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

NASDAQ:LOPE traded up $0.03 on Monday, hitting $110.08. 171,082 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 277,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Grand Canyon Education has a 52 week low of $71.00 and a 52 week high of $111.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $275.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.13 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.07% and a return on equity of 22.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides education services in the United States and Canada. The company operates Grand Canyon University that offers approximately 225 graduate and undergraduate degree programs and certificates across 9 colleges online and on ground through campus in Phoenix, Arizona; leased facilities; and facilities owned by third party employers.

Twin Tree Management LP Trims Stake in U.S. Bancorp (USB)

Twin Tree Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 89.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,453 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 251,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,470,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 172,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,217,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 120,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,470,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Advisors LLC now owns 23,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. 73.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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In other news, EVP Craig E. Gifford sold 45,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.35, for a total transaction of $2,540,011.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David B. Omaley sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.60, for a total transaction of $556,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 231,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,881,519.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,775 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Vining Sparks reissued a “hold” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase cut shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $58.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

USB stock opened at $50.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $49.03 and a one year high of $58.50.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 26.39% and a return on equity of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services in the United States. The company operates through five segments: Corporate and Commercial Banking, Consumer and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Investment Services, Payment Services, and Treasury and Corporate Support.

Take-Two Hit By Weak Demand

Going into its fiscal fourth-quarter financial release (which ended March 31, 2018), Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) faced many of the same questions seen in the rest of the video-game industry. A recent trend toward free-to-play battle royale games, led by Epic Games'�Fortnite, has captured the public's imagination, leaving fewer players opting for other games.

Take-Two wasn't immune to the trend, with revenue that fell 21% year over year. Net bookings, which takes deferred revenue into account, didn't do much better, increasing a paltry 1%.�

Can Red Dead Redemption reignite Take-Two's sales? Image source: Rock Star Games.

Take-Two results: The raw numbers

Metric

Q4 2018

Q4 2017

Year-Over-Year Change

Net revenue	$450.3 million	$571.6 million	(21%)
Net bookings	$411.4 million	$407.1 million	1%
Operating income	$87.83 million	$111.5 million	(21%)
Net income	$90.9 million	$99.3 million	(8.5%)
Earnings per share	$0.77	$0.89	(13%)

Data source: Take-Two Fourth Quarter Financial Results. Chart by author.

What happened at Take-Two this quarter?

For the just completed quarter, Take-Two produced revenue of $450 million, below the company's forecast for a number in the range of $460 million to $510 million provided at the end of last quarter.�

Net bookings grew to $411.4 million, up 1% year over year, but far below analysts' consensus estimates of $444.63 million.�The company's earnings per share of $0.77 fell 13% compared to the prior-year quarter, in line with analysts' expectations for $0.77 earnings per share.�

Sales from recurrent consumer spending -- which includes virtual currency, add-on content, and in-game purchases -- was a highlight, growing to $238.6 million, up 15% year over year, and accounted for 58% of total net bookings. The largest contributors were Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K18, Dragon City and Monster Legends, WWE 2K18 and WWE SuperCard, and Sid Meier's Civilization VI.

Digital sales also shined, increasing to $301.4 million, up 12% compared to the prior-year quarter, driven by�Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K18, Sid Meier's Civilization VI, Monster Legends and Dragon City, and WWE SuperCard and WWE 2K18.

"During the fourth quarter, Take-Two delivered net bookings growth driven by increased recurrent consumer spending -- including better-than-expected results from Grand Theft Auto Online," said Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two. "Our solid performance marked the completion of another outstanding year for our company."

The company announced yet another delay in the release of an upcoming game: "The highly anticipated title from one of 2K's biggest franchises, which had been planned for release during the current fiscal year, is now planned for launch during fiscal 2020 to allow for additional development time." This has become a familiar refrain to Take-Two shareholders, as the company has a long documented history of delaying game releases.

Looking ahead

For the upcoming first quarter, Take-Two expects GAAP net revenue in a range of $345 million to $395 million, which would represent a decline of 11.5% at the midpoint of guidance. This would produce earnings per share in a range of $0.53 to $0.63, which would represent 3.5% growth at the midpoint.�

For the full year, the company is guiding for GAAP net revenue in a range of $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion, which would represent impressive 42% year-over-year growth at the midpoint of its guidance. Take-Two expects diluted earnings per share in a range of $1.53 to $1.80, which would be more than double the $0.77 per diluted share the company generated in the just-completed fiscal year.

So, what's causing all of that full-year optimism? Take-Two is pinning its hopes on the long-awaited release of Red Dead Redemption 2, which is now due to launch on October 26, after several well-publicized delays. If the company plans on reaching its lofty goals, it can't afford another postponement.