American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.1429.

Several research firms have recently commented on APEI. Griffin Securities set a $53.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Northland Securities set a $51.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a report on Wednesday. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of American Public Education in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on American Public Education from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Public Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st.

American Public Education Price Performance

APEI stock opened at $44.25 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.32. American Public Education has a 12-month low of $18.76 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $800.04 million, a PE ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. No Street GP LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Public Education in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,365,000. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in American Public Education during the third quarter worth about $15,108,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Public Education by 124.8% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 668,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,342,000 after buying an additional 370,894 shares in the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Public Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,723,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of American Public Education by 1,667.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 180,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,836,000 after buying an additional 170,604 shares during the last quarter. 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.