Zacks Research Upgrades American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) to “Strong-Buy”

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jul 15th, 2026

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI – Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Lake Street Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Public Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of American Public Education from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a report on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.12.

View Our Latest Research Report on APEI

American Public Education Stock Down 1.7%

American Public Education stock opened at $58.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37. American Public Education has a 12 month low of $27.74 and a 12 month high of $61.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.33. American Public Education had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 6.13%.The firm had revenue of $174.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.73 million. American Public Education has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.390 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that American Public Education will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Public Education

In other news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 52,172 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,288. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Public Education

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 538,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,018,000 after buying an additional 21,079 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 97,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 6,671 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of American Public Education by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in American Public Education by 40.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Public Education Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.