Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. (NYSE:PXED) Stock Has Average Price Target of $41.60

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. (NYSE:PXED) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.60.

PXED has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Phoenix Education Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Phoenix Education Partners from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on Phoenix Education Partners from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Phoenix Education Partners in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phoenix Education Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,411,000 after purchasing an additional 241,997 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter worth about $12,620,000. UBS Group AG purchased a new stake in Phoenix Education Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,618,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Phoenix Education Partners in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,398,000. Finally, Bastion Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Phoenix Education Partners in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,085,000.

Phoenix Education Partners Price Performance

NYSE PXED opened at $25.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Phoenix Education Partners has a 12 month low of $23.52 and a 12 month high of $47.08. The stock has a market cap of $933.73 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.50.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. Phoenix Education Partners had a return on equity of 60.06% and a net margin of 8.18%.The business had revenue of $271.80 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Phoenix Education Partners will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Phoenix Education Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 29th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Phoenix Education Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.07%.

About Phoenix Education Partners

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc is an education services company and the parent organization of University of Phoenix, a higher education institution focused primarily on working adults and other nontraditional learners. The company provides access to postsecondary education through online programs and related learning resources.

University of Phoenix offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs, along with certificate and professional development options. Its academic offerings span fields such as business, education, health care, information technology, nursing, criminal justice and psychology.