Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Earns Outperform Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Perdoceo Education stock opened at $28.42 on Friday. Perdoceo Education has a 52 week low of $16.12 and a 52 week high of $29.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 20.42% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The firm had revenue of $169.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.60 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Perdoceo Education’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Robert Kline sold 30,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.47, for a total value of $809,293.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,820.35. This trade represents a 18.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total value of $90,916.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,039.90. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,396 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Perdoceo Education

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRDO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Perdoceo Education in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

About Perdoceo Education

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.