American Public Education, Inc.

NasdaqGS:APEI Stock Report

Market Cap: US$339.4m

American Public Education Valuation

Is APEI undervalued compared to its fair value, analyst forecasts and its price relative to the market?

Valuation Score

3/6

Valuation Score 3/6

  • Below Fair Value

  • Significantly Below Fair Value

  • Price-To-Earnings vs Peers

  • Price-To-Earnings vs Industry

  • Price-To-Earnings vs Fair Ratio

  • Analyst Forecast

Share Price vs Fair Value

What is the Fair Price of APEI when looking at its future cash flows? For this estimate we use a Discounted Cash Flow model.

Below Fair Value: APEI ($19.16) is trading below our estimate of fair value ($182.51)

Significantly Below Fair Value: APEI is trading below fair value by more than 20%.


Key Valuation Metric

Which metric is best to use when looking at relative valuation for APEI?

Key metric: As APEI is profitable we use its Price-To-Earnings Ratio for relative valuation analysis.

The above table shows the Price to Earnings ratio for APEI. This is calculated by dividing APEI's market cap by their current earnings.
What is APEI's PE Ratio?
PE Ratio33.8x
EarningsUS$10.03m
Market CapUS$339.36m

Price to Earnings Ratio vs Peers

How does APEI's PE Ratio compare to its peers?

The above table shows the PE ratio for APEI vs its peers. Here we also display the market cap and forecasted growth for additional consideration.
CompanyForward PEEstimated GrowthMarket Cap
Peer Average25x
LINC Lincoln Educational Services
48.5x60.6%US$477.2m
QSG QuantaSing Group
2.7x-21.4%US$144.6m
UTI Universal Technical Institute
47.5x41.0%US$1.1b
STG Sunlands Technology Group
1.4xn/aUS$90.9m
APEI American Public Education
33.8x58.3%US$339.4m

Price-To-Earnings vs Peers: APEI is expensive based on its Price-To-Earnings Ratio (33.8x) compared to the peer average (25x).


Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry

How does APEI's PE Ratio compare vs other companies in the US Consumer Services Industry?

6 CompaniesPrice / EarningsEstimated GrowthMarket Cap
QSG QuantaSing Group
2.7x-21.4%US$144.65m
STG Sunlands Technology Group
1.4xn/aUS$90.87m
RGS Regis
0.5xn/aUS$42.43m
REDU RISE Education Cayman
1xn/aUS$40.41m
APEI 33.8xIndustry Avg. 18.7xNo. of Companies6PE01632486480+
6 CompaniesEstimated GrowthMarket Cap
No more companies

Price-To-Earnings vs Industry: APEI is expensive based on its Price-To-Earnings Ratio (33.8x) compared to the US Consumer Services industry average (18.7x).


Price to Earnings Ratio vs Fair Ratio

What is APEI's PE Ratio compared to its Fair PE Ratio? This is the expected PE Ratio taking into account the company's forecast earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors.

APEI PE Ratio vs Fair Ratio.
Fair Ratio
Current PE Ratio33.8x
Fair PE Ratio28.6x

Price-To-Earnings vs Fair Ratio: APEI is expensive based on its Price-To-Earnings Ratio (33.8x) compared to the estimated Fair Price-To-Earnings Ratio (28.6x).


Analyst Price Targets

What is the analyst 12-month forecast and do we have any statistical confidence in the consensus price target?

The above table shows the analyst APEI forecast and predictions for the stock price in 12 month’s time.
DateShare PriceAverage 1Y Price TargetDispersionHighLow1Y Actual priceAnalysts
CurrentUS$19.16
US$23.00
+20.0%
9.4%US$25.00US$20.00n/a3
Nov ’25US$15.13
US$18.33
+21.2%
15.6%US$22.00US$15.00n/a3
Oct ’25US$14.29
US$18.33
+28.3%
15.6%US$22.00US$15.00n/a3
Sep ’25US$16.72
US$18.33
+9.6%
15.6%US$22.00US$15.00n/a3
Aug ’25US$18.47
US$22.00
+19.1%
7.4%US$24.00US$20.00n/a3
Jul ’25US$17.45
US$20.67
+18.4%
4.6%US$22.00US$20.00n/a3
Jun ’25US$17.40
US$20.67
+18.8%
4.6%US$22.00US$20.00n/a3
May ’25US$13.82
US$16.00
+15.8%
5.1%US$17.00US$15.00n/a3
Apr ’25US$14.19
US$15.67
+10.4%
6.0%US$17.00US$15.00n/a3
Mar ’25US$10.75
US$8.67
-19.4%
28.8%US$12.00US$6.00n/a3
Feb ’25US$10.77
US$8.67
-19.5%
28.8%US$12.00US$6.00n/a3
Jan ’25US$9.65
US$8.00
-17.1%
20.4%US$10.00US$6.00n/a3
Dec ’24US$8.21
US$8.00
-2.6%
20.4%US$10.00US$6.00n/a3
Nov ’24US$4.14
US$8.00
+93.2%
20.4%US$10.00US$6.00US$15.133
Oct ’24US$4.98
US$8.00
+60.6%
20.4%US$10.00US$6.00US$14.293
Sep ’24US$5.23
US$8.00
+53.0%
20.4%US$10.00US$6.00US$16.723
Aug ’24US$4.76
US$9.33
+96.1%
36.4%US$14.00US$6.00US$18.473
Jul ’24US$4.74
US$10.00
+111.0%
32.7%US$14.00US$6.00US$17.453
Jun ’24US$4.72
US$10.00
+111.9%
32.7%US$14.00US$6.00US$17.403
May ’24US$5.61
US$12.00
+113.9%
16.7%US$14.00US$10.00US$13.822
Apr ’24US$5.42
US$12.00
+121.4%
16.7%US$14.00US$10.00US$14.192
Mar ’24US$10.45
US$20.00
+91.4%
25.0%US$25.00US$15.00US$10.752
Feb ’24US$12.48
US$18.67
+49.6%
24.1%US$25.00US$15.00US$10.773
Jan ’24US$12.29
US$18.67
+51.9%
24.1%US$25.00US$15.00US$9.653
Dec ’23US$13.42
US$18.67
+39.1%
24.1%US$25.00US$15.00US$8.213
Nov ’23US$12.64
US$18.67
+47.7%
24.1%US$25.00US$15.00US$4.143

Analyst Forecast: Target price is more than 20% higher than the current share price and analysts are within a statistically confident range of agreement.


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