Strayer Education Inc (STRA), Apollo Group Inc (APOL): Three Education Stocks Poised For a Turnaround

Page 3 of 3

Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ: STRA): Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ: STRA) is one of the more expensive stocks in the group, trading at 13 times analyst expectations this year.

There is a reason Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ: STRA) is more expensive–the company is much more stable than many of its competitors.

While Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ: STRA) has seen a moderate decline in enrollment for the last two years, it has still remained well above the enrollment level of 2008 (before the industry came under pressure). The same can be said for the company’s revenue as tuition levels have remained steady.

Similar to ITT Educational Services, Strayer Education is repurchasing shares aggressively. This makes good use of the company’s excess cash as the underlying business is still cash-flow positive.

As the employment market continues to improve and enrollment levels  rebound, Strayer Education is in a great spot to boost profits ahead of expectations, which will attract the attention of institutional as well as individual investors.

The time to act is now!

With for-profit education stocks trading at historically low price points, and the overall sector showing significant improvement, now is the time to add these stocks to your portfolio.

As investors start to put the pieces of the puzzle together (stronger employment, stable student loans, the need for higher education, higher profit potential for these companies), the stock prices should trade sharply higher.

We want to make sure to put our capital to work today, before valuations increase and the potential return rates are diminished.

Zachary Scheidt has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The article Three Education Stocks Poised For a Turnaround originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Zachary Scheidt.

Zachary is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Page 3 of 3