Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Separately, Barrington Research boosted their price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ PRDO opened at $27.67 on Thursday. Perdoceo Education has a 52-week low of $16.12 and a 52-week high of $29.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.06.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $169.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.60 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 20.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total value of $90,916.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 69,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,039.90. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 30,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.47, for a total value of $809,293.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,451,820.35. This trade represents a 18.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,594 shares of company stock worth $1,541,396 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRDO. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $818,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 582,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,948,000 after acquiring an additional 16,720 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 46,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,193 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 9.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 278,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,954,000 after purchasing an additional 24,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education in the third quarter valued at $647,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Company Profile

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.