Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Investors Undervaluing American Public Education (APEI) Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is American Public Education (APEI - Free Report) . APEI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.25. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.81. Over the last 12 months, APEI's Forward P/E has been as high as 4,091.70 and as low as -731.64, with a median of 16.85.

We also note that APEI holds a PEG ratio of 1.15. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. APEI's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.23. Over the last 12 months, APEI's PEG has been as high as 272.78 and as low as -48.78, with a median of 1.12.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is APEI's P/B ratio of 1.36. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.52. Within the past 52 weeks, APEI's P/B has been as high as 1.37 and as low as 0.30, with a median of 0.76.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. APEI has a P/S ratio of 0.55. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.55.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in American Public Education's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, APEI looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) - free report >>

Published in