Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Downgraded by Barrington Research to “Market Perform”

Barrington Research cut shares of Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

PXED has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Phoenix Education Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $38.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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 assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Phoenix Education Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:PXED opened at $21.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.80. Phoenix Education Partners has a 52-week low of $21.25 and a 52-week high of $35.90. 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 $779.44 million and a PE ratio of 5.24.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.07. Phoenix Education Partners had a return on equity of 57.86% and a net margin of 8.74%. The firm had revenue of $260.68 million for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Phoenix Education Partners will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Phoenix Education Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is an increase from Phoenix Education Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Phoenix Education Partners’s payout ratio is presently 39.07%.

Insider Transactions at Phoenix Education Partners

In other Phoenix Education Partners news, insider John Woods sold 19,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $503,638.17. Following the sale, the insider owned 62,682 shares in the company, valued at $1,622,836.98. The trade was a 23.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,703 shares of company stock valued at $534,904. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,411,000 after purchasing an additional 241,997 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the second quarter worth about $12,620,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the first quarter worth about $2,085,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the second quarter worth about $2,398,000. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Phoenix Education Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,653,000.

Key Stories Impacting Phoenix Education Partners

Here are the key news stories impacting Phoenix Education Partners this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Phoenix raised its quarterly dividend 9.5%, from $0.21 to $0.23 per share, equal to $0.92 annualized and a 3.9% yield at the cited share price. Shareholders of record November 13 are scheduled to be paid November 27. Company results and announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Fiscal Q4 EPS was $1.07, in line with consensus and up from $1.04 a year earlier. Revenue was $260.68 million. Meeting estimates provides little earnings surprise to drive the shares. Q4 earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple firms cut their ratings or outlooks: Barrington moved to market perform, Morgan Stanley to equal weight, and B. Riley to neutral, lowering its target from $44 to $25. Truist cut its target from $38 to $23 and assigned a hold rating. The broad shift to more cautious recommendations and substantial target cuts may pressure investor sentiment, despite targets remaining above the cited $21.62 share price. B. Riley downgrade

About Phoenix Education Partners

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.