Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Shares Down 4.8% – Here’s Why

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. (NYSE:PXED)’s stock price was down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $28.52 and last traded at $28.5550. Approximately 24,137 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 104,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Phoenix Education Partners from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Phoenix Education Partners in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Phoenix Education Partners from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Phoenix Education Partners in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with 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 stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.60.

Phoenix Education Partners Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.18 and its 200-day moving average is $29.80.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.15. Phoenix Education Partners had a return on equity of 60.06% and a net margin of 8.18%.The business had revenue of $271.80 million during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Phoenix Education Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 29th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Phoenix Education Partners’s payout ratio is currently 39.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PXED. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,411,000 after buying an additional 241,997 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the second quarter valued at $12,620,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $7,989,000. FIL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,575,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $7,191,000.

About Phoenix Education Partners

Our Mission To provide access to higher education opportunities that enable students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their professional goals, improve the performance of their organizations and provide leadership and service to their communities. We are a mission-driven organization operating at the forefront of the rapidly evolving post-secondary education market. As one of the largest online education providers and a pioneer in our field, we benefit from the dynamic interplay between technological innovation, education, employment and economic trends.