Deutsche Bank Downgrades American Public Education (APEI) to Hold

Deutsche Bank downgraded American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI) from Buy to Hold with a price target of $32.00 (from $37.00). Analyst Adrienne Colby noted enrollment volatility and margin pressure.

"Signs of stabilizing military enrollment trends have yet to surface while weak civilian student registration growth is expected to face further headwinds over the remainder of 2015. Margin pressure from ongoing IT investments and marketing spend will likely be exacerbated by the failed attempt to bring Fin Aid processing in-house. We lower 1Q15E EPS from $0.53 to $0.50 (Street $0.50), and '15E drops by 11% from $2.54 to $2.27 (Street $2.14). We continue to like APEI’s low cost, high quality offering, but poor enrollment visibility and lower margin are moving us to downgrade shares to a Hold rating," said Colby.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on American Public Education click here. For more ratings news on American Public Education click here.

Shares of American Public Education closed at $30.46 yesterday.

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