Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Reaches New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $29.33 and last traded at $29.17, with a volume of 77927 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.87.

The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $169.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.60 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 20.42%. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on PRDO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barrington Research lifted their target price on Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perdoceo Education news, insider Michele A. Peppers sold 6,476 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $135,996.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,992. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRDO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,896,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,538,000 after purchasing an additional 45,259 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the second quarter valued at $2,570,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the second quarter valued at $954,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 979.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 750,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,376,000 after purchasing an additional 681,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 69.5% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 150,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 61,734 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.07 and a 200 day moving average of $22.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.04.

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.