Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Perdoceo Education shares reached a new 52-week high of $34.60, closing at $34.51 with significant trading volume.
• Barrington Research issued an "outperform" rating with a target price of $40.00, indicating positive sentiment among analysts.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.15 per share, reflecting a 1.7% annual yield, up from the previous $0.13, highlighting financial strength.

Perdoceo Education Corporation (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.60 and last traded at $34.51, with a volume of 177471 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Perdoceo Education in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Perdoceo Education Stock Up 4.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.26 and a current ratio of 4.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.28. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $209.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.92 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 20.09%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Perdoceo Education has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.600-0.620 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.480-2.550 EPS. Research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Corporation will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Perdoceo Education's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Greg E. Jansen sold 30,234 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $997,722.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 96,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,177,207. This trade represents a 23.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 53,081 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.70, for a total value of $1,629,586.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 157,632 shares in the company, valued at $4,839,302.40. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,336 shares of company stock valued at $4,308,769. 2.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perdoceo Education

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 136.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 26,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 15,238 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 41.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 279,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,147,000 after purchasing an additional 81,857 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the second quarter valued at $671,000. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 15.3% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 30,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 8.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 255,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,344,000 after purchasing an additional 19,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company's stock.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice.

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