Kennondale Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Kennondale Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 96,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,000. Perdoceo Education accounts for about 2.1% of Kennondale Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 1.0% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 85,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

PRDO stock opened at $24.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.97 and a 200-day moving average of $25.09. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 12-month low of $16.56 and a 12-month high of $29.84. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The business had revenue of $176.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.12 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.64%.

Insider Transactions at Perdoceo Education

In other news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $327,888.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 615,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,186,674.13. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $313,296.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,363,144.95. This trade represents a 8.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.81% 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.