American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Short Interest Down 9.2% in September

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 876,300 shares, a decline of 9.2% from the September 15th total of 965,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 246,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 5.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Public Education

In other news, Director Michael David Braner acquired 59,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.05 per share, for a total transaction of $831,464.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,788,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,131,066.40. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have bought 182,287 shares of company stock worth $2,635,431 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Public Education

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APEI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of American Public Education by 329.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 425,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,473,000 after buying an additional 326,091 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Public Education in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,159,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,004,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,651,000 after purchasing an additional 127,000 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 351,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,182,000 after purchasing an additional 106,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 194,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 106,535 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Public Education Stock Performance

APEI stock opened at $14.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $253.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.51, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.89. American Public Education has a one year low of $4.05 and a one year high of $21.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.01. The business had revenue of $152.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.06 million. American Public Education had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 6.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Public Education will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of American Public Education from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $24.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Public Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.