Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that Strayer Education (Nasdaq: STRA) will top analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 28. Strayer Education, through its subsidiaries, makes post-secondary education achievable and convenient for working adults in today's economy.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Strayer Education with 11 of 16 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Strayer Education as much as competitor Career Education overall. Four out of 17 analysts rate Career Education a buy compared to three of 16 for Strayer Education. While analysts still rate the stock a Hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $165.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 4.2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $2.39 per share. Estimates range from $2.35 to $2.51.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 80.2% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 80.4% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Strayer Education and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 144 posts in the past 30 days. Strayer Education's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Strayer Education's profit has risen year over year by an average of 20.2%. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 12.6 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 8.9% while cost of sales rose 53.1% to $75 million from a year earlier.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

56.4%

66.8%

66.8%

68.5%

Operating Margin

34.4%

34.3%

25.9%

36.8%

Net Margin

20.8%

20.9%

15.8%

22.4%

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