American Public Education Records a Big Miss in Earnings Results But Shows Strong Support from its Director
American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) recently released its earnings results on March 14th, to the disappointment of investors as the company reported a loss of ($0.27) per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.09). The education firm’s negative return on equity and net margin only worsened investor sentiment with figures standing at -2.19% and -18.97% respectively.
Despite the lackluster performance, American Public Education’s business had revenue of $152.44 million for the quarter, indicating that there may still be hope for recovery especially with regards to widespread economic reopening due to vaccine rollouts.
Additionally, in a recent turn of events, Director Granetta B. Blevins has shown her unwavering confidence in the company by buying 25,750 shares at an average cost of $3.95 per share on March 20th this year. With this transaction alone Blevins’ stake in APEI rose by an astounding 223.6% and now sits at a whopping 37,105 shares valued at $146,564.75.
The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission and has shown great support for American Public Education especially given that it comes from an insider who now owns 1.4% of APEI’s common stock.
It is unclear what has fueled Director Granetta Blevin’s purchase of such a significant amount of shares or what her position on future performance projections is but based on her actions alone it would appear that she expects more from American Public Education moving forward.
APEI opened at $6.32 on Monday dispelling any immediate hopes that positive sentiment has returned to its stock following Granetta Blevin’s acquisition however should Q2 earnings turn out better than Q1, APEI shares may soon be on the rise again.
American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) Poised for Growth Despite Industry Challenges
American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) has been in the news lately for all the right reasons. Investment analysts at William Blair predict a positive growth trajectory for APEI, as evidenced by their recent estimates, which indicate that the company will post better than expected earnings per share of ($0.47) for Q1 2023.
This is an upgrade from William Blair’s prior forecast of ($0.50) and serves to reinforce the firm’s “Market Perform” rating on APEI stock. The consensus estimate for American Public Education’s current full-year earnings stands at ($0.98) per share.
William Blair also issued estimates for APEI’s Q2 2023 earnings at ($0.42) EPS, Q3 2023 earnings at ($0.43) EPS, FY2023 earnings at ($1.49) EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at ($0.16) EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at ($0.24) EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at ($0.26) EPS and FY2024 earnings at ($0.64) EPS.
Despite some concerns expressed by analysts from Bloomberg who envision only a “Moderate Buy” recommendation with an average price target of $13, other industry experts remain optimistic about the future outlook of APEI.
For instance, StockNews.com recently assumed coverage on shares of American Public Education and set a “hold” rating on the stock while Barrington Research reduced their price target on shares of APEI from $15 to $10 and gave it an “outperforming” rating in March.
On another note, several institutional investors have recently acquired new stakes or reduced their existing ones in the stock market competition by investing money into APEI shares.
Investment managers such as Morgan Stanley have even gone one step further by growing its stake in shares of American Public Education through a 61.6% increase in the last quarter. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board also increased its stake by 13.3%, while the State of Wyoming recently acquired APEI shares for $29,000.
Looking ahead, these promising signs from the education sector bode well for investors who are looking to add value to their investment portfolios. As the market becomes increasingly competitive and technology drives more changes in the education industry globally, American Public Education might be poised to benefit from these trends, given its robust market position and innovative business model.
While it is still unclear if American Public Education will continue to thrive and exceed expectations in line with William Blair’s projections moving forward, but one thing remains clear: APEI has all the hallmarks of a company that investors should keep their eyes on going forward.
