Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Hits New 52-Week High on Strong Earnings

Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $21.73 and last traded at $21.55, with a volume of 118220 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.34.

The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $168.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is presently 20.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PRDO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Perdoceo Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Perdoceo Education in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perdoceo Education

In other Perdoceo Education news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $275,680.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 713,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,291,313.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 11,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $216,828.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 226,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,298,446. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $275,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 713,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,291,313.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,412 shares of company stock valued at $1,342,428 in the last 90 days. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 9.9% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 36,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 4.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 5.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 6.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 1,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Stock Up 26.0 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.92.

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.