Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Phoenix Education Partners to “buy” from “hold,” but analyst sentiment remains mixed: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “hold,” with a $31.67 average price target.
• Other recent calls varied, including B. Riley cutting its target to $25 and rating to “neutral,” while BMO maintained “outperform” but lowered its target to $33.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.07, matching estimates, on revenue of $260.68 million. Shares opened at $19.66, near their 52-week low of $19.55.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley Financial lowered shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $44.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Barrington Research lowered Phoenix Education Partners from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Phoenix Education Partners from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Phoenix Education Partners from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Phoenix Education Partners Price Performance

NYSE:PXED opened at $19.66 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.70. The company has a market capitalization of $708.60 million and a P/E ratio of 5.40. Phoenix Education Partners has a 52 week low of $19.55 and a 52 week high of $35.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07. Phoenix Education Partners had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 60.06%. The company had revenue of $260.68 million during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Phoenix Education Partners will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Woods sold 19,453 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $503,638.17. Following the transaction, the insider owned 62,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,836.98. The trade was a 23.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 20,703 shares of company stock worth $534,904 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Phoenix Education Partners

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company's stock worth $24,411,000 after acquiring an additional 241,997 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,620,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter worth about $2,398,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,085,000. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,653,000.

Phoenix Education Partners Company Profile

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc is a higher education company focused on serving working adults and other nontraditional students. Through the University of Phoenix, its principal operating institution, the company provides career-oriented undergraduate and graduate degree programs, professional certificates, and other educational offerings.

The University of Phoenix primarily delivers instruction through online learning, with programs designed to offer flexible scheduling for students balancing education with employment and other responsibilities.

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