Business Corpus: How Much Will Lifting This 'Stigma' Help Grand Canyon Education?Grand Canyon Education will report earnings for the first time since it sold off Grand Canyon University, which has reverted to nonprofit status. The post How Much Will Lifting This 'Stigma' Help Grand Canyon Education? appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) will report earnings for the first time since it sold off Grand Canyon University, which has reverted to nonprofit status.

Estimates: Wall Street expects EPS to tick up 4% to 86 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research. Revenue is seen tumbling 35% to $141 million.

Results & Outlook: Check back after the close.

Stock: Shares were down 0.3% at 117.81 on the stock market today. Industry group leader Chegg (CHGG) rose 1.2%, while Chinese stock TAL Education Group (TAL) lost 0.8% and peer New Oriental Education (EDU) fell 1.5%.

A good earnings beat could propel the Grand Canyon Education stock upward. It is currently just above buy range after breaking out from a six-week flat base with a correct entry of 111.51 on May 29, MarketSmith analysis shows. It is trading above its 50-day line, a key technical support, however its relative strength line has been moving sideways.

Nasdaq-listed Grand Canyon Education currently holds second place in the Consumer Services-Education industry group. Its strong fundamentals are reflected in its excellent IBD Composite Rating of 97, which puts it in the top 3% of stocks. In addition, its EPS Rating of 90, which measures earnings per share growth on both a current and annual basis, is also impressive.

Grand Canyon Education Restructures

Back in July, Piper Jaffray managing director Peter Appert gave the company a price target hike to 142 from 117. This was due to its restructuring as a nonprofit university and for-profit services firm.

The conversion was accomplished through the sale of the university's physical assets for a price of $875 million to the newly formed nonprofit Grand Canyon University Corp. Grand Canyon Education will still provide services such as marketing, accounting and human resources to the university.

For this quarter, Appert is looking for continued solid underlying fundamentals in Q2, with enrollment growth of at least 8.6%.

"We'll be interested in early comments from management on (1) potential for faster enrollment growth now that the "for-profit stigma" has been lifted and (2) plans/progress in adding new university clients now that LOPE has become an Online Program Management (OPM) firm," he said in a research note. "Positive commentary on either could be a source of valuation upside."

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The post How Much Will Lifting This 'Stigma' Help Grand Canyon Education? appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.