Short Interest in Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. (NYSE:PXED) Rises By 65.4%

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. (NYSE:PXED) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 532,073 shares, an increase of 65.4% from the June 30th total of 321,673 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 139,433 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Phoenix Education Partners in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Phoenix Education Partners in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

Phoenix Education Partners Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE PXED traded down $0.91 on Friday, hitting $28.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 153,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,042. Phoenix Education Partners has a 1-year low of $23.52 and a 1-year high of $47.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion and a PE ratio of 13.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.21 and its 200 day moving average is $30.05.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. Phoenix Education Partners had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 60.06%. The company had revenue of $271.80 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Phoenix Education Partners will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phoenix Education Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 29th. Phoenix Education Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.07%.

Institutional Trading of Phoenix Education Partners

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PXED. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $858,000. Walleye Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 16,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the first quarter valued at about $151,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Phoenix Education Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,085,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 3,898 shares in the last quarter.

About Phoenix Education Partners

Our Mission To provide access to higher education opportunities that enable students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their professional goals, improve the performance of their organizations and provide leadership and service to their communities. We are a mission-driven organization operating at the forefront of the rapidly evolving post-secondary education market. As one of the largest online education providers and a pioneer in our field, we benefit from the dynamic interplay between technological innovation, education, employment and economic trends.