How to buy American Public Education stock | $35

American Public Education, Inc is an education & training services business based in the US. American Public Education shares (APEI) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. American Public Education employs 1,410 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$310.3 million.

How to buy shares in American Public Education

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for American Public Education. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: APEI. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until American Public Education reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$35, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of American Public Education, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of American Public Education. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

American Public Education share price

Use our graph to track the performance of APEI stocks over time.

American Public Education shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-12-27.

Latest market close	USD$35
52-week range	USD$18.47 - USD$37.7
50-day moving average	USD$31.6747
200-day moving average	USD$30.4886
Wall St. target price	USD$40
PE ratio	27.4892
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$1.155

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Is it a good time to buy American Public Education stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of American Public Education, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

American Public Education price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $35 from 2020-12-18

1 week (2021-01-07)	9.86%
1 month (2020-12-17)	9.03%
3 months (2020-10-16)	15.47%
6 months (2020-07-17)	12.11%

1 year (2020-01-17)	25.27%
2 years (2019-01-17)	15.21%
3 years (2018-01-17)	35.14%
5 years (2016-01-15)	119.30%

Is American Public Education under- or over-valued?

Valuing American Public Education stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of American Public Education's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

American Public Education's P/E ratio

American Public Education's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 27x. In other words, American Public Education shares trade at around 27x recent earnings.

That's comparable to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29).

American Public Education's PEG ratio

American Public Education's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.4111. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into American Public Education's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

American Public Education's EBITDA

American Public Education's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$39.6 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a American Public Education's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

American Public Education financials

Revenue TTM	USD$310.3 million
Operating margin TTM	8.32%
Gross profit TTM	USD$176.5 million
Return on assets TTM	4.41%
Return on equity TTM	5.84%
Profit margin	5.63%
Book value	$20.126
Market capitalisation	USD$470.2 million

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting American Public Education shares

There are currently 231,542 American Public Education shares held short by investors – that's known as American Public Education's "short interest". This figure is 6.4% down from 247,482 last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting American Public Education shares can be evaluated.

American Public Education's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

American Public Education's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of American Public Education shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of American Public Education shares traded daily (recently around 55525.659472422). American Public Education's SIR currently stands at 4.17. In other words for every 100,000 American Public Education shares traded daily on the market, roughly 4170 shares are currently held short.

However American Public Education's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of American Public Education shares, or, against the total number of tradable American Public Education shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case American Public Education's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 American Public Education shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0196% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable American Public Education shares, roughly 20 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against American Public Education.

Find out more about how you can short American Public Education stock.

American Public Education share dividends

We're not expecting American Public Education to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

American Public Education share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, American Public Education's shares have ranged in value from as little as $18.47 up to $37.7. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while American Public Education's is 0.8493. This would suggest that American Public Education's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

American Public Education overview

American Public Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education. The company operates in two segments, American Public Education and Hondros College of Nursing. It offers 121 degree programs and 111 certificate programs in various fields of study, including business administration, health science, technology, criminal justice, education, and liberal arts, as well as national security, military studies, intelligence, and homeland security. The company also provides diploma in practical nursing, an associate degree in nursing, and an associate degree in medical laboratory technology. American Public Education, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Charles Town, West Virginia.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of American Public Education is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 3.805% of American Public Education shares are held by insiders and 96.228% by institutions.

• How many people work for American Public Education?

  Latest data suggests 1,410 work at American Public Education.

• When does the fiscal year end for American Public Education?

  American Public Education's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is American Public Education based?

  American Public Education's address is: 111 West Congress Street, Charles Town, WV, United States, 25414

• What is American Public Education's ISIN number?

  American Public Education's international securities identification number is: US02913V1035

• What is American Public Education's CUSIP number?

  American Public Education's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 02913V103