Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.40.

LINC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Educational Services in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Educational Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lincoln Educational Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Educational Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Lincoln Educational Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Lincoln Educational Services Stock Performance

Lincoln Educational Services stock opened at $22.69 on Friday. Lincoln Educational Services has a fifty-two week low of $14.10 and a fifty-two week high of $25.76. The company has a market capitalization of $717.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. Lincoln Educational Services had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 2.86%.The business had revenue of $141.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $129.85 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Educational Services will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Educational Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 43,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 15,299 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Educational Services by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,494,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,721,000 after acquiring an additional 75,989 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 109.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 99,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 51,650 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Educational Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $702,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Lincoln Educational Services in the first quarter worth approximately $445,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.23% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln Educational Services

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various career-oriented post-secondary education services to high school graduates and working adults in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Campus Operations and Transitional. It offers associate's degree, and diploma and certificate programs in automotive technology; skilled trades programs, including electrical, heating and air conditioning repair, welding, computerized numerical control, and electrical and electronic systems technology; health science programs comprising licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, dental assistant, medical assistant, medical administrative assistant, and claims examiner; hospitality service and information technology programs, such as culinary, therapeutic massage, cosmetology, aesthetics, and computer systems support technicians.