UPDATE: Citigroup Reiterate on Grand Canyon Education on Strong 4Q13, Solid 2014 Outlook

In a report published Friday, Citigroup analyst Philip Stiller reiterated a Buy rating on Grand Canyon Education LOPE, and raised the price target from $50.00 to $53.00. In the report, Citigroup noted, “LOPE reported another strong quarter with encouraging trends across the board (new online enrollment, retention, margins). 2014 guidance was a bit mixed with revenues slightly outpacing consensus and EPS slightly below on greater investments in the business. We believe the outlook is good starting point for a historically conservative mgmt team and believe LOPE can deliver upside through the course of the year while setting up the company for future growth. "Based on our upwardly revised estimates, we believe the stock's valuation of ~10x EV/EBITDA for 2014 is attractive given the good visibility into LOPE's double digit top- and bottom-line growth trajectory. We are raising our PT to $53 (from $50) and we maintain our Buy rating on LOPE. We are hosting meetings with LOPE mgmt in the mid-Atlantic on February 26th.” Grand Canyon Education closed on Thursday at $45.74.