Piper Jaffray Asks What's Next For Education Stocks (APEI)

Piper Jaffray is out with a research note on the education stocks, and asks what's next. Mentioned in the note is American Public Education, Inc. APEI. It has a Neutral rating and a $43 price target on shares. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "Despite tempting valuations, we think it's too soon to own the postsecondary education stocks broadly given a downward bias in estimate revisions, a need to dial-back long-term growth expectations, and continuing regulatory uncertainty. We think the stocks will be interesting 2012 stories, but are likely to remain largely range-bound (with tremendous volatility) over the next six months. This note provides a snapshot of our view on potential near-term catalysts for the stocks." Shares of APEI lost 41 cents yesterday to close at $41.55, a loss of nearly 1%.