American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI) has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with six buy ratings and two hold ratings. The average 1-year price target is about $59.13.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.94 versus the expected $0.61 and revenue of $174.74 million, slightly above estimates. It also guided Q2 2026 EPS in the range of $0.34 to $0.39.
• Shares opened at $49.47, below the average analyst target, while insiders have been selling stock, including notable sales by two senior vice presidents. Institutional ownership remains high at 79.62%.

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.1250.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on APEI shares. William Blair set a $58.00 target price on American Public Education in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised American Public Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. DA Davidson increased their target price on American Public Education from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of American Public Education from $38.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of American Public Education in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

American Public Education Price Performance

Shares of American Public Education stock opened at $49.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $907.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.96. American Public Education has a twelve month low of $25.80 and a twelve month high of $61.59.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $174.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.73 million. American Public Education had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 6.13%.American Public Education has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.390 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Public Education will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Public Education

In other American Public Education news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.70, for a total transaction of $115,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 62,172 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,324.40. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tanya Joy Axenson sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.68, for a total transaction of $1,113,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,779,378.56. This represents a 28.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 377,071 shares of company stock worth $20,753,569. Corporate insiders own 10.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Public Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Public Education by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,386 shares of the company's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of American Public Education by 7.2% during the second quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP now owns 7,432 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of American Public Education by 40.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of American Public Education by 4.9% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,209 shares of the company's stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of American Public Education by 5.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,795 shares of the company's stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Public Education Company Profile

American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.

APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.

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