Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Reaches New 52-Week High - Should You 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) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.60 and last traded at $34.51, with a volume of 177471 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Perdoceo Education Stock Up 0.5%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.28 and a 200 day moving average of $29.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.27, a quick ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $209.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $206.92 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 20.09%.Perdoceo Education's revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Perdoceo Education Corporation will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Perdoceo Education's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perdoceo Education news, Chairman Gregory L. Jackson sold 4,568 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total transaction of $148,460.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 60,962 shares in the company, valued at $1,981,265. The trade was a 6.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Elise Baskel sold 21,212 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $742,420.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 72,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,524,970. This represents a 22.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 125,656 shares of company stock valued at $4,073,148 over the last 90 days. 2.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 36,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Perdoceo Education during the 1st quarter worth $464,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,431 shares of the company's stock worth $8,245,000 after buying an additional 8,468 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 212.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 62,026 shares of the company's stock worth $1,562,000 after buying an additional 42,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in Perdoceo Education during the 1st quarter worth $437,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.