Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Stock Gets Downgrade from B. Riley Financial

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial downgraded Phoenix Education Partners from “buy” to “neutral,” setting a $25 price target, about 6.4% above the prior close.
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reports an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $35.40, while recent ratings include both upgrades and downgrades.
• Phoenix reported quarterly EPS of $1.07, matching estimates, on revenue of $260.68 million. Shares opened at $23.50 and were down 1.7%.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at B. Riley Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $25.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial's price target indicates a potential upside of 6.41% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PXED. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Phoenix Education Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Zacks Research raised Phoenix Education Partners from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Phoenix Education Partners from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Phoenix Education Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.40.

Phoenix Education Partners Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Phoenix Education Partners stock opened at $23.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.01 and a 200 day moving average of $28.84. The firm has a market cap of $846.99 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93. Phoenix Education Partners has a 1 year low of $23.15 and a 1 year high of $36.40.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Phoenix Education Partners will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Phoenix Education Partners

In other Phoenix Education Partners news, insider John Woods sold 19,453 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total transaction of $503,638.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 62,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,836.98. The trade was a 23.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 have sold 20,703 shares of company stock worth $534,904 over the last three months. 5.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,620,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company's stock worth $24,411,000 after buying an additional 241,997 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter worth $2,398,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the first quarter worth $2,085,000. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Phoenix Education Partners during the third quarter valued at $1,653,000.

About Phoenix Education Partners

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.