Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Strong-Buy Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PXED. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Phoenix Education Partners from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price target on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Phoenix Education Partners in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

Phoenix Education Partners Stock Performance

NYSE PXED opened at $26.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $945.15 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Phoenix Education Partners has a twelve month low of $23.52 and a twelve month high of $47.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.55.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $271.80 million for the quarter. Phoenix Education Partners had a return on equity of 60.06% and a net margin of 8.18%. Sell-side analysts expect that Phoenix Education Partners will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Phoenix Education Partners Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phoenix Education Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,411,000 after acquiring an additional 241,997 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter worth $12,620,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Phoenix Education Partners in the second quarter worth $2,398,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Phoenix Education Partners in the first quarter worth $2,085,000. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC bought a new stake in Phoenix Education Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $1,515,000.

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.