American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.20.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on APEI. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on American Public Education from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on American Public Education from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on American Public Education from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded American Public Education to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th.

Insider Transactions at American Public Education

In other American Public Education news, Director 325 Capital Llc sold 214,396 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.04, for a total value of $6,011,663.84. Following the sale, the director owned 1,181,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,115,380.20. The trade was a 15.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nuno S. Fernandes sold 7,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total value of $197,143.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,459 shares in the company, valued at $2,316,793.49. This trade represents a 7.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,736 shares of company stock worth $19,211,182 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 17.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Public Education

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APEI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,921 shares of the company's stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 13,344 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 87,159 shares of the company's stock worth $1,880,000 after acquiring an additional 6,253 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 507,716 shares of the company's stock worth $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 37,492 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 173,447 shares of the company's stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 58,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,155 shares of the company's stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.62% of the company's stock.

American Public Education Price Performance

American Public Education stock opened at $29.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a current ratio of 3.27. American Public Education has a 52 week low of $11.80 and a 52 week high of $31.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $540.84 million, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.20 and a 200-day moving average of $24.21.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.26. American Public Education had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company had revenue of $164.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.92 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Public Education will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Public Education Company Profile

American Public Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning in the United States. It operates through three segments: American Public University System, Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. The company offers 184 degree programs and 134 certificate programs in various fields of study, including nursing, national security, military studies, intelligence, homeland security, business, health science, information technology, justice studies, education, and liberal arts; and career learning opportunities in leadership, finance, human resources, and other fields of study critical to the federal government workforce.

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