Lincoln Educational Services Co. (NASDAQ:LINC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Lincoln Educational Services Co. (NASDAQ:LINC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 364,500 shares, a growth of 23.4% from the February 13th total of 295,300 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 173,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Lincoln Educational Services Stock Performance

Shares of LINC stock opened at $15.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.46 and a 200-day moving average of $14.90. The company has a market cap of $491.27 million, a P/E ratio of 48.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Lincoln Educational Services has a one year low of $9.51 and a one year high of $19.79.

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $119.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.50 million. Lincoln Educational Services had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 10.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Educational Services will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LINC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Educational Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Educational Services from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Educational Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.75.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Educational Services

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,418,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,444,000 after purchasing an additional 14,772 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln Educational Services by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,123,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,768,000 after purchasing an additional 338,495 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,071,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,952,000 after acquiring an additional 51,430 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 833,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,180,000 after acquiring an additional 41,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 690,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,922,000 after buying an additional 42,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.23% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln Educational Services

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various career-oriented post-secondary education services to high school graduates and working adults in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Campus Operations and Transitional. It offers associate's degree, and diploma and certificate programs in automotive technology; skilled trades programs, including electrical, heating and air conditioning repair, welding, computerized numerical control, and electrical and electronic systems technology; health science programs comprising licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, dental assistant, medical assistant, medical administrative assistant, and claims examiner; hospitality service and information technology programs, such as culinary, therapeutic massage, cosmetology, aesthetics, and computer systems support technicians.