Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

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 morning.

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of PRDO opened at $28.30 on Tuesday. Perdoceo Education has a one year low of $16.12 and a one year high of $29.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.29 and a 200 day moving average of $24.60.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 20.42%. The company had revenue of $169.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Perdoceo Education’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

Insider Activity at Perdoceo Education

In related news, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total transaction of $90,916.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,862,039.90. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $327,888.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 615,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,186,674.13. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,020 shares of company stock worth $732,102. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,817,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,129,000 after acquiring an additional 14,591 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,627,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,072,000 after acquiring an additional 79,686 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,209,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,379,000 after acquiring an additional 352,470 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 950,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 756,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,023,000 after buying an additional 75,473 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.