AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI)
Consumer Discretionary · For-profit online and campus-based postsecondary education · NASDAQ
A provider of online and campus-based higher education with a specialized focus on the military community, nursing, and healthcare-related professional advancement.
What AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC does
American Public Education Inc provides online and campus-based postsecondary education to approximately 108,600 students through three subsidiary institutions: American Public University System (APUS), Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. APUS operates as an exclusively online institution serving approximately 88,700 adult learners, with a particular focus on active-duty military, veterans, and public service professionals. Rasmussen University operates 18 physical campuses across five states plus online education, with a focus on nursing and health sciences programs. Together these institutions offer certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs.
Themes: Military education / veteran services, Online distance learning, Nursing education / pre-licensure nursing, Working adult education, Health sciences education, Public service professional development, Campus-based postsecondary education
Fundamentals
- Price$45.61 as of 2026-08-21 close
- Market cap$835M as of 2026-08-21
- 1-year return+46.7% 2025-08-21 close $31.10 → 2026-08-21 close $45.61
- P/E18.13 as of 2026-08-24
- Net margin+6.8% as of 2026-08-24
- Gross margin+55.9% as of 2026-08-24
- ROE+15.3% as of 2026-08-24
- Debt / equity0.28 as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue growth (YoY)+3.6% as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+2.3% SEC XBRL
- Beta1.41 as of 2026-08-24
- Last reported earnings2026-08-10 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
Dividend: pays a dividend.
How APEI compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiomiddle range 266 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-08-24
- net profit marginmiddle range 334 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-08-24
- operating marginmiddle range 334 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-08-24
- gross margintop 25% 331 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-08-24
- return on equitymiddle range 334 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-08-24
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 325 covered Consumer Discretionary peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 311 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Consumer Discretionary companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Dividend coverage
Not assessed — last reported dividend predates the accounts. The most recent fiscal year in which APEI reported a dividend payment is FY2007, while its reported financial statements run through FY2025. Coverage is therefore not assessed for the latest year — an FY2007 ratio would not describe APEI today.
Coverage is derived from reported SEC EDGAR XBRL figures, comparing dividends paid against net income and free cash flow for the SAME fiscal year. It is not shown here because the latest fiscal year with a reported dividend payment (FY2007) is older than the latest year of reported financial statements (FY2025), so any ratio would describe an out-of-date year. Informational only — not financial advice.
How AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC looks technically
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) is trading 3.3% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 438 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. A strong downtrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 29, with sellers in control. Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 40, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 9 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative). It made a new 20-day low about 5 trading days ago. It is 25.9% below its highest point of the past year.
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 3.3% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend | -3.3% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $51.28 | $51.28 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $47.17 | $47.17 |
| Swing structure | each recent peak has been lower than the one before it and each dip deeper — the pattern chart-watchers call a downtrend, which describes where price has already been and not where it goes next | lower highs and lower lows |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 16 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 16 sessions |
| Wave structure | its recent swings can be read as a five-part downward sequence — what Elliott-wave chartists call an impulse — now in leg 3 of five; the labelling fails if price closes above 54.9398. It is one of several labellings that fit, and it describes the swings already printed, not what comes next. The same swings also read as a three-part correction in leg C. | possible downward five-wave sequence, in wave 3 (one of several readings) |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 438 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 438 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a strong downtrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 29, with sellers in control | 28.8 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 40, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 40.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the lower half of its 14-day range ($43.23 to $54.94) — its "stochastic" reading is 20 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been climbing within that range over the last few sessions. | 20.3 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 9 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative) | 9 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $61.59 | $61.59 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 25.9% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -25.9% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 58.0% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +58.0% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 25.9% below its highest point of the past year | 25.9% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day low about 5 trading days ago | 5 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day low about 5 trading days ago | 5 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $61.59 (set on 2026-04-21) | $61.59 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($29.21 to $60.86), and it has given back around half of its rise from last year’s low — 48% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $40.29 to $41.30. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 48.2% |
| From the all-time high | it is 25.9% below its all-time high | -25.9% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 0.8% below a resistance level at $45.99 — a price it turned at three times since 2026-02-06, most recently on 2026-07-22. Since 2024-08-21 it has 14 such levels below the current price and 5 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | +0.8% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $3.76 (set on 2023-06-20) | $3.76 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 1113.0% above its all-time low | +1,113% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are wider than usual versus its own recent 6-month history (wider than about 78% of it) | 78th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $2.48 between its high and its low — about 5.4% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $2.48 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $41.71 and $54.66 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $41.71 – $48.18 – $54.66 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 5.4% in a typical session — about typical for the companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 5.4% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 0.6 daily ranges below its 200-day average price (3.3% below it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 0.6 daily ranges below its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 0.93× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts have raised their average price target by 1.1% since the prior reading | +1.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | not available for this company yet | n/a |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a doji | 1 session ago it opened and closed at almost the same price after trading through a wider range — a "doji", the classic picture of buyers and sellers finishing the session level | 1 session ago |
|---|
Price gaps
2
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-08-21 at essentially the same price it closed at the session before — no meaningful overnight gap | -0.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Gap filled | a 5.0% gap up opened on 2026-08-11 has been "filled" 8 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it closed again during the very session that opened it | 8 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock lagged the market by 9.0 percentage points (the stock lost 6.7% while the market gained 2.3%) | -9.0% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock lagged the market by 14.7 percentage points (the stock lost 11.6% while the market gained 3.1%) | -14.7% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 7.1 percentage points (the stock gained 4.0% while the market gained 11.1%) | -7.0% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock beat the market by 26.2 percentage points (the stock gained 46.7% while the market gained 20.5%) | +26.2% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 1 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it is currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 1 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 5 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: a strong downtrend, with sellers in control, trading below its 200-day average, MACD momentum is negative, lagging the market over 6 months, trading below the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 5 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 16% below the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-07-16 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established downtrend, with the band above acting as the level that would have to be cleared. The band itself is thin, spanning 0.0% of the share price, which is taken to mean a barrier that gives way easily. | -16.4% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 11% below the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $51.15 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 157 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -10.8% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is sitting right on the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-08-10 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is roughly break-even. That average is $45.52 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 10 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +0.2% |
Price levels it has turned at before
APEI last closed at $45.61 on 2026-08-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has turned at 14 prices below its last close and 5 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45.99 | Resistance | 0.8% above the last close | turned there three times · 2026-02-06 to 2026-07-22 |
| $47.26 | Resistance | 3.6% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-03-04 to 2026-07-31 |
| $41.88 | Support | 8.2% below the last close | turned there twice · 2026-02-12 to 2026-02-23 |
| $50.33 | Resistance | 10.3% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-05-13 to 2026-06-16 |
| $40.09 | Support | 12.1% below the last close | turned there twice · 2025-10-02 to 2026-01-29 |
| $39.23 | Support | 14.0% below the last close | turned there three times · 2025-10-14 to 2025-12-18 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
Its recent swings can be read as a five-part downward sequence — what Elliott-wave chartists call an impulse — now in leg 3 of five.
This labelling fails — stops being a possible reading at all — if it closes above $54.94.
This is one of several labellings that fit the same swings, so treat it as a reading rather than the reading. It was chosen from 2 labellings that survived the rules, counting shorter readings of the same bars.
On past moves of this shape the leg has usually ended somewhere between $32.89 and $41.31 — that is where it has tended to end if the count holds, not a forecast of where the price goes.
Alternate reading: The same swings also read as a three-part correction in leg C, which fails on a close above $54.94.
This labelling was already in place when we began recording count changes on 2026-08-13, so how long it has stood is not something we can say yet.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-08-21.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading below the 200-day moving average · Pulled back from the 12-month high · Analyst price target recently RAISED · lagging the market · Trading below the Ichimoku cloud · Near a resistance level (pressing into a price that has capped it before) | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout · fifty two week high low
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-08-21. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingStrong Buy (1.43 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 6 analysts
- Mean price target$62.83 range $55.00 – $70.00; median $63.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-08-17. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for APEI
- Consensus EPS estimate$0.475 next reporting period, as of 2026-08-17
Change over time is not available yet: it needs two readings of the same reporting period at least 30 days apart, and we have been recording these estimates since 2026-08-04. An estimate for a DIFFERENT quarter is not a revision, so a reading from before the last report is never compared with one after it.
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Dependency on federal student financial aid and compliance with evolving Department of Education regulations, which could restrict student enrollment or program offerings","Competition from other for-profit and nonprofit online education providers and traditional higher education institutions","Regulatory risk including accreditation requirements from The Higher Learning Commission and potential changes to military education benefits and policies affecting student recruitment"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of APEI's 10-Q filed 2026-05-11 against the prior one filed 2025-11-10.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Added reference to 'fiscal year ended December 31, 2025' in newer filing (vs. 2024 in older)
- Added bullet point: 'our ability to maintain, develop, and grow our technology infrastructure, including with respect to any current or planned use of artificial intelligence or transform our technology infrastructure and realize the benefits of any such transformation'
- Added bullet point: 'the competitive environment in which we operate'
- Added bullet point: 'our ability to achieve the intended benefits of our cost savings initiatives and revenue-generating efforts'
- Added bullet point: 'the expected benefits of insourcing and outsourcing information technology services to our operations and third-party vendors, respectively'
- Added risk factor: 'any adverse impacts of government shutdowns on APUS's net course registrations and our results of operations, and our inability to realize the intended benefits of any efforts to mitigate any such impacts'
- Added risk factor: 'our inability to predict whether ED will grant borrower defense to repayment, or BDTR, claims'
- Removed:
- Removed specific reference to 'U.S federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025' from federal appropriations bullet point
- Removed phrase 'such as the U.S federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025' from federal appropriations bullet
- Removed phrase 'that will be a system' from Combination description (changed to 'encompassing')
- Removed phrase 'to support our student body and remain competitive' from technology infrastructure bullet
- Removed phrase 'the participating in' (grammatical error) from DoD TA bullet
- Removed bullet point: 'our ability to recognize the intended benefits of our cost savings and reduction and revenue-generating efforts' (relocated/reworded)
- Removed specific reference to October 1, 2025 shutdown from TA programs risk factor
- Removed phrase 'including due to changes in military activity and deployments, budgets, and government shutdowns' from military students risk factor
- Removed risk factor text about business combinations, acquisitions, divestitures and strategic transactions
- Reworded:
- Changed 'this Quarterly Report' to 'this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, or this Quarterly Report' for clarity
- Changed 'the estimated impact of such matters on us and our prospective and current students, and our efforts to mitigate this impact' to 'the estimated impact of such matters on us and our prospective and current students, and our efforts to mitigate impacts' (generalized from specific shutdown reference)
- Changed 'into one consolidated institution that will be a system encompassing' to 'into one consolidated institution encompassing' in Combination description
- Changed 'our ability to maintain, develop, and grow our technology infrastructure to support our student body and remain competitive' to extended version with AI and transformation language
- Changed 'the participating in DoD tuition assistance' to 'participating in DoD tuition assistance' (removed article)
- Changed 'our ability to recognize the intended benefits' to 'our ability to achieve the intended benefits' in cost savings bullet
- Changed 'our inability to maintain enrollments from military students' to include phrase 'including due to changes in military activity and deployments, budgets, and government shutdowns' in older version (removed in newer)
- Notes:
- Newer filing appears truncated at end of text provided ('and chang' incomplete)
- Older filing also appears truncated at end with incomplete bullet point
- Some changes appear to generalize specific October 1, 2025 shutdown references into broader shutdown language in newer filing
- Text provided does not include complete risk and uncertainties section for either filing
Risk Factors
The two filings could not be meaningfully compared for this section.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
0 open-market purchases and 6 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days.
- Last 30 days0 buys · 2 sells ($457174) — 2 selling insiders
- Last 90 days0 buys · 6 sells ($979333) — 3 selling insiders
- Last 180 days0 buys · 12 sells ($10M) — 4 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net selling (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-08-12. As of 2026-08-24.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about APEI's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
5 institutional 13F filers reported holding APEI as of 2026-03-31 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 5
- Reported shares held 3,676,706
- Reported value $209,131,032
reported quarterly holdings change (2025-12-31 → 2026-03-31): 0 new, 3 increased, 2 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Short interest (FINRA)
APEI had 1,812,359 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
APEI had 9.90% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 5.75 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 1,812,359
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 9.90%
- Prior settlement (shares) 1,909,105
- Reported change -5.07%
- Days to cover (reported) 5.75
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-07-31 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- University of Phoenix (UOPX)
- Strayer Education (STRA)
- 2U Inc (TWOU)
- Coursera (COUR)
- Grand Canyon University
- Liberty University
- Walden University
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
Compare APEI vs…
Frequently asked questions
What does AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) do?
American Public Education Inc provides online and campus-based postsecondary education to approximately 108,600 students through three subsidiary institutions: American Public University System (APUS), Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. APUS operates as an exclusively online institution serving approximately 88,700 adult learners, with a particular focus on active-duty military, veterans, and public service professionals.
What sector is AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) in?
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) is classified in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Its industry is For-profit online and campus-based postsecondary education. It trades on NASDAQ.
Does APEI pay a dividend?
Yes — AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) pays a dividend, with an indicated yield of about 0.00% (market data, as of 2026-08-24). Informational only — not financial advice.
Who are AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC's (APEI) competitors?
Notable peers of AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) include University of Phoenix, Strayer Education, 2U Inc, Coursera and Grand Canyon University. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) overbought or oversold right now?
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC (APEI) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 40, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-08-21). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on APEI come from?
Fundamentals and prices come from market data, as of 2026-08-24; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: market data, as of 2026-08-24. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-08-21.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.