Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Stock Dropped to “Strong Sell” by Zacks Research

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PXED. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Phoenix Education Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Phoenix Education Partners from $38.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barrington Research lowered Phoenix Education Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut Phoenix Education Partners from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.67.

Phoenix Education Partners Stock Performance

Shares of PXED traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 226,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,603. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $708.60 million and a PE ratio of 8.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.70. Phoenix Education Partners has a one year low of $19.55 and a one year high of $35.90.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.07. Phoenix Education Partners had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 60.06%. The company had revenue of $260.68 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Phoenix Education Partners will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Woods sold 19,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $503,638.17. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 62,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,836.98. This represents a 23.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 20,703 shares of company stock worth $534,904 over the last 90 days. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phoenix Education Partners

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming grew its position in Phoenix Education Partners by 446.3% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Curated Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,653,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 worth $24,411,000 after purchasing an additional 241,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000.

Phoenix Education Partners Company Profile

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc is a higher education company focused on serving working adults and other nontraditional students. Through the University of Phoenix, its principal operating institution, the company provides career-oriented undergraduate and graduate degree programs, professional certificates, and other educational offerings.

The University of Phoenix primarily delivers instruction through online learning, with programs designed to offer flexible scheduling for students balancing education with employment and other responsibilities.