American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Upgraded at Zacks Research

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

APEI has been the subject of several other reports. Barrington Research lifted their target price on American Public Education from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Public Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Public Education currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.12.

American Public Education Trading Down 1.7%

APEI opened at $58.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.25. American Public Education has a one year low of $27.74 and a one year high of $61.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $174.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.73 million. American Public Education had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 6.13%.American Public Education has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.390 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Public Education will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Public Education

In related news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 52,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,288. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 10.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Public Education

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. No Street GP LP acquired a new position in American Public Education during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,365,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 1,667.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 180,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 170,604 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 122.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 294,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,619,000 after purchasing an additional 162,318 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in American Public Education by 1,025.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 130,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,937,000 after purchasing an additional 118,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manatuck Hill Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Public Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,503,000. 79.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Public Education

American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.

APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.