Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Reaches New 1-Year High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $29.84 and last traded at $28.37, with a volume of 53898 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.81.

The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 20.42% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The company had revenue of $176.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.12 million.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PRDO shares. StockNews.com raised Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other Perdoceo Education news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $327,888.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 615,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,186,674.13. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $313,296.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,363,144.95. This trade represents a 8.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,129,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the third quarter worth about $9,374,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,209,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,379,000 after purchasing an additional 352,470 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 871,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,071,000 after purchasing an additional 275,129 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,296,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,251,000 after purchasing an additional 241,147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.07.

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.