StockNews.com Lowers Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) to Hold

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LINC. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Lincoln Educational Services in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Educational Services from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Educational Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.75.

Lincoln Educational Services Stock Performance

Shares of LINC stock traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $11.41. The company had a trading volume of 86,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,857. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $358.78 million, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.29. Lincoln Educational Services has a twelve month low of $7.88 and a twelve month high of $14.52.

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $102.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.60 million. Lincoln Educational Services had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 1.95%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Educational Services will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Educational Services

In other Lincoln Educational Services news, major shareholder Juniper Investment Company, Ll sold 17,031 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.01, for a total transaction of $204,542.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 935,937 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,603.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,819 shares of company stock worth $490,481. 16.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LINC. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Educational Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Lincoln Educational Services by 1,513.5% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 8,067 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services during the second quarter worth about $123,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Lincoln Educational Services by 60.2% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 4,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Lincoln Educational Services by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 10,095 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.23% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln Educational Services

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various career-oriented post-secondary education services to high school graduates and working adults in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Campus Operations and Transitional. It offers associate's degree, and diploma and certificate programs in automotive technology; skilled trades programs, including electrical, heating and air conditioning repair, welding, computerized numerical control, and electrical and electronic systems technology; health science programs comprising licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, dental assistant, medical assistant, medical administrative assistant, and claims examiner; hospitality service and information technology programs, such as culinary, therapeutic massage, cosmetology, aesthetics, and computer systems support technicians.