American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.96 and last traded at $40.73, with a volume of 19866 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APEI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on American Public Education from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Public Education in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Public Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on shares of American Public Education from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Public Education presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $40.57.

American Public Education Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $731.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 2.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.10.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.39. The company had revenue of $163.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.02 million. American Public Education had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 11.75%. American Public Education has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.320-0.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Public Education, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Public Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APEI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in American Public Education by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Public Education by 4.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 538,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,018,000 after acquiring an additional 21,079 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in American Public Education by 7.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 97,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 6,671 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in American Public Education by 70.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Public Education in the 2nd quarter worth about $536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.62% of the company’s stock.

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.