Barrington Research Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Barrington Research reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $30.00 price target on the stock.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Perdoceo Education stock opened at $22.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.14. Perdoceo Education has a 1-year low of $16.12 and a 1-year high of $26.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.03.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The business had revenue of $166.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Perdoceo Education will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from Perdoceo Education’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insider Transactions at Perdoceo Education

In other news, Chairman Gregory L. Jackson sold 26,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $605,272.80. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 58,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,331,218.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director William Dean Hansen sold 13,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.01, for a total value of $303,386.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $897,758.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Gregory L. Jackson sold 26,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $605,272.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 58,644 shares in the company, valued at $1,331,218.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,325 shares of company stock worth $1,044,656. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRDO. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,934,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,978,000 after buying an additional 721,122 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 979.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 750,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,376,000 after buying an additional 681,391 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,650,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,766,000 after buying an additional 518,048 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,217,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,380,000 after buying an additional 366,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 944.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 246,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,283,000 after buying an additional 223,050 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.