American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

APEI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of American Public Education from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on American Public Education from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of American Public Education in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barrington Research upped 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded American Public Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Public Education presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

American Public Education Stock Performance

APEI stock opened at $44.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a current ratio of 3.25. The stock has a market cap of $810.87 million, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.82. American Public Education has a 52 week low of $28.86 and a 52 week high of $61.59.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.16. American Public Education had a net margin of 6.84% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $171.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.88 million. American Public Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.480-2.790 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.180-0.290 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Public Education will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 52,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,288. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Public Education

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Public Education in the second quarter worth about $2,873,000. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of American Public Education during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,498,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of American Public Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,721,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of American Public Education by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 3,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in American Public Education by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 181,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,743,000 after purchasing an additional 4,125 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is currently owned by 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.