Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

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

Perdoceo Education Trading Up 1.8 %

Perdoceo Education stock opened at $27.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.34 and a 200-day moving average of $22.70. Perdoceo Education has a 1 year low of $16.12 and a 1 year high of $29.47.

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

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Perdoceo Education news, insider Michele A. Peppers sold 6,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $135,996.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,992. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total value of $90,916.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 69,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,862,039.90. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,450 shares of company stock valued at $1,036,206. 1.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRDO. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 1,306.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Perdoceo Education by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Perdoceo Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 650.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education during the second quarter worth $74,000. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.