Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Lincoln Educational Services Co. (NASDAQ:LINC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $20.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lincoln Educational Services traded as high as $16.21 and last traded at $16.20, with a volume of 325686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.91.

LINC has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Educational Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Educational Services in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Lincoln Educational Services from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Educational Services

In related news, major shareholder Juniper Investment Company, Ll sold 19,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.02, for a total value of $235,724.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 876,410 shares in the company, valued at $10,534,448.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,819 shares of company stock valued at $490,481. 16.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Educational Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Herr Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Educational Services by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 2,355,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,335,000 after purchasing an additional 88,335 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 11.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,343,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,875,000 after buying an additional 136,334 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lincoln Educational Services by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 970,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,509,000 after buying an additional 50,737 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Educational Services by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 768,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,119,000 after acquiring an additional 155,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Educational Services by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 645,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,658,000 after acquiring an additional 72,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.23% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Educational Services Trading Up 8.7 %

The company has a market cap of $509.98 million, a PE ratio of 58.23, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.06.

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.07. Lincoln Educational Services had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm had revenue of $102.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.60 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Educational Services Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

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.