Strategic Education
STRA on Nasdaq. Strategic Education sells college degrees and job skills courses to students and employers. Market value $1.8bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
We can't read total debt from the filing, so debt is left out.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
See Retail & consumer stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $9.51 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 4 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 64 of 100. Price score: 83 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$79.82 a share, 15% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $69.70 to $89.73.
Dividend: 3.1% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $1.1bn | $1.1bn | $1.1bn | $1.2bn | $1.3bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 6.5% | 6.6% | 8.4% | 12.8% | 13.7% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.00 | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.02bn | 0.02bn | 0.02bn | 0.02bn | 0.02bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Not enough data
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 7 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- DebtUnknown
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 4.3% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 9% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $337 million last quarter, up 5% on a year ago.
- Profit: $37 million, up 15% on a year ago.
- It keeps 14 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, up from 13 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $169 million, up from $124 million.
- 8% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $306m |
| December 2024 | $311m |
| March 2025 | $304m |
| June 2025 | $321m |
| September 2025 | $320m |
| December 2025 | $323m |
| March 2026 | $306m |
| June 2026 | $337m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $28m |
| December 2024 | $25m |
| March 2025 | $30m |
| June 2025 | $32m |
| September 2025 | $27m |
| December 2025 | $38m |
| March 2026 | $33m |
| June 2026 | $37m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 27 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 28 October 2026
Who owns it
3 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 3 last quarter. 290 funds in all.
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $42m | <0.1% | Added |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $3m | <0.1% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $1m | <0.1% | Cut |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$291mAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$112mAdded
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$112m
- Bank of Montreal /can$96mCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$72mCut
- State Street$70mAdded
- Geode Capital Management$46m
- T. Rowe Price Investment Management$45mCut
- Morgan Stanley$45mAdded
- Marshfield Associates$43mCut
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor6.3%Since 31 March 2026
- Bank of MontrealPassive investorat least 6.3%(filed with 6 related holders)Since 31 December 2025
- Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.Passive investor6.1%Since 31 December 2025
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 June 2026
- T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 31 March 2026
- Marshfield Associates IncPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 6.3% | 31 March 2026 | |
Bank of Montreal Passive investor | at least 6.3% (filed with 6 related holders) | 31 December 2025 | |
Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Passive investor | 6.1% | 31 December 2025 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 June 2026 | |
T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc. Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Marshfield Associates Inc Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 2 insiders bought $106,381 of shares on the open market. 6 sold $5m, $5m of it under preset trading plans.
- Hokenson ChristaCHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICERSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 4 June 2026
- Shares
- 2,000
- Price
- $80.00
- Value
- $160,000
- WAITE G THOMAS IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 5 May 2026
- Shares
- 666
- Price
- $77.68
- Value
- $51,735
- Thawley MichaelDirectorBought
- Date
- 24 April 2026
- Shares
- 665
- Price
- $72.71
- Value
- $48,352
- HERRAIZ LIZETTE BENEDIGENERAL COUNSELSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 18 March 2026
- Shares
- 2,982
- Price
- $79.88
- Value
- $238,202
- HERRAIZ LIZETTE BENEDIGENERAL COUNSELSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 13 March 2026
- Shares
- 7,598
- Price
- $79.97
- Value
- $607,587
- SILBERMAN ROBERT SCHAIRMAN, DirectorBought
- Date
- 13 March 2026
- Shares
- 718
- Price
- $80.82
- Value
- $58,029
- JACKSON DANIEL WAYNECHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 2 March 2026
- Shares
- 13,000
- Price
- $82.37
- Value
- $1m
- MCDONNELL RAYMOND KARLCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 24 February 2026
- Shares
- 38,840
- Price
- $75.35
- Value
- $3m
- GRUSKY ROBERT RDirectorSold
- Date
- 11 December 2025
- Shares
- 1,403
- Price
- $80.03
- Value
- $112,282
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 June 2026 | Hokenson Christa CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,000 | $80.00 | $160,000 |
| 5 May 2026 | WAITE G THOMAS III Director | Sold | 666 | $77.68 | $51,735 |
| 24 April 2026 | Thawley Michael Director | Bought | 665 | $72.71 | $48,352 |
| 18 March 2026 | HERRAIZ LIZETTE BENEDI GENERAL COUNSEL | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,982 | $79.88 | $238,202 |
| 13 March 2026 | HERRAIZ LIZETTE BENEDI GENERAL COUNSEL | Sold under a preset trading plan | 7,598 | $79.97 | $607,587 |
| 13 March 2026 | SILBERMAN ROBERT S CHAIRMAN, Director | Bought | 718 | $80.82 | $58,029 |
| 2 March 2026 | JACKSON DANIEL WAYNE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Sold under a preset trading plan | 13,000 | $82.37 | $1m |
| 24 February 2026 | MCDONNELL RAYMOND KARL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 38,840 | $75.35 | $3m |
| 11 December 2025 | GRUSKY ROBERT R Director | Sold | 1,403 | $80.03 | $112,282 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.