Short Interest in American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Rises By 9.8%

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 427,900 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the March 15th total of 389,600 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 172,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Public Education by 34.6% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 476,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 122,520 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of American Public Education by 11.1% in the third quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,184,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,899,000 after purchasing an additional 118,300 shares during the period. Heron Bay Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of American Public Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Public Education by 13.4% in the third quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 169,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Public Education in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on APEI shares. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price (up previously from $12.00) on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $6.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

American Public Education Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ APEI traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 27,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,013. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 2.94. American Public Education has a 1-year low of $3.76 and a 1-year high of $16.39.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. American Public Education had a negative net margin of 7.87% and a positive return on equity of 3.26%. The firm had revenue of $152.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.54 million. On average, research analysts forecast that American Public Education will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About American Public Education

American Public Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning in the United States. It operates through three segments: American Public University System, Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. The company offers 184 degree programs and 134 certificate programs in various fields of study, including nursing, national security, military studies, intelligence, homeland security, business, health science, information technology, justice studies, education, and liberal arts; and career learning opportunities in leadership, finance, human resources, and other fields of study critical to the federal government workforce.