American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.25.

Several brokerages have weighed in on APEI. William Blair set a $58.00 price target on American Public Education in a report on Friday. Barrington Research raised their price objective on American Public Education from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on American Public Education from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on American Public Education from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday.

American Public Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APEI opened at $57.66 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 42.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.70. American Public Education has a 1-year low of $20.75 and a 1-year high of $58.69.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.28. American Public Education had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The business had revenue of $158.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.61 million. American Public Education has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.640 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Public Education will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

American Public Education News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting American Public Education this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat on both revenue and EPS, with revenue of $158.3M and EPS $0.67 (above estimates); operating cash jumped materially — supports valuation and upside expectations. Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Company issued Q1 2026 EPS guidance of $0.58–$0.64 (above consensus $0.55) and FY 2026 revenue guidance of $685M–$695M — the beat / above-consensus guidance is a primary driver of the intraday rally. Guidance Article
• Positive Sentiment: Completed a $130M senior secured credit facility (5-year) — reduces borrowing costs (~$3.7M annualized reported) and strengthens liquidity to support growth/expansion plans. Refinancing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst firms raised price targets and reiterated Buy/Outperform ratings (B. Riley to $57, Lake Street to $56, Barrington to $56) — analyst upward revisions provide validation and can attract momentum buyers. Analyst Raises
• Neutral Sentiment: Full Q4 earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for detail; management commentary will matter for longer-term margin outlook and campus expansion cadence. Earnings Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite beats, gross profit and operating profit declined year-over-year (per third-party summary) and some insiders sold shares recently — these items are watch points for margin recovery and insider confidence. Profitability & Insider Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Some updated analyst price targets still sit near or below the current market price, implying limited near-term upside from select desks — monitor revisions as analysts factor guidance and margins. Analyst Targets Detail

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Public Education by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 63,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in American Public Education by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 51,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in American Public Education by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 110,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Public Education in the 4th quarter valued at $997,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 99.9% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 6,132 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Public Education Company Profile

American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.

APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.