Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Perdoceo Education in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Perdoceo Education stock opened at $28.39 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.55. Perdoceo Education has a 12-month low of $16.12 and a 12-month high of $29.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.07.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $169.83 million for 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%. Perdoceo Education’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $327,888.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 615,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,186,674.13. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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. Insiders sold a total of 58,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,396 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 38.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.