Risk Intelligence
Core Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
How strong and defensively sound is the company?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Suggestions
APEI · NASDAQ
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC
Private betaSector unavailable · Industry unavailable
$44.94
+0.18%
Close on Sep 11, 2026
Insufficient Data
Updated date unavailable
Long-term research evidence only. No price targets, no trading signals, no recommendations.
Investment Report Card
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC
Sector unavailable · Data confidence partial
No Suggested Investment Score today
SCORE_PENDING_OWNERSHIP
Long-Term Potential
Research Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
Does the business have the characteristics needed to create value over many years?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Fundamental Momentum
Research Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
Is the underlying business getting stronger or weaker?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Ownership Intelligence
Supplemental Intelligence
—
Not Available
Insufficient Coverage
What are important owners actually doing?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Valuation Intelligence
Research Model
D+
54 / 100
Reasonable
Is today's price reasonable?
Weaker than most covered companies on this measure — and valuation is researched separately from the Suggested Investment Score.
Capital Returns Intelligence
Research Model
D+
51 / 100
Moderate Capital Returns
How effectively does the company reward shareholders?
Weaker than most covered companies on this measure — and capital returns are researched separately from the Suggested Investment Score.
Why it stands out
No strengthening evidence is recorded in today's readings.
What holds it back
- Ownership evidence is incomplete and should not be read as comprehensive.
Long-term view
Long-Term Potential is not available for this company, so no long-term reading is shown.
Ownership view
No disclosed ownership reading is available at the required confidence, so ownership is left blank rather than estimated.
Valuation view
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC reads 54 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence, recorded as Reasonable. The stock currently trades above most of its own recent valuation history and above comparable companies. This describes the price being paid relative to the company's financials — it is not a forecast and not a fair value. Valuation Intelligence is a research model and contributes nothing to the Suggested Investment Score or the daily ranking.
Capital returns view
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC reads 51 out of 100 on Capital Returns Intelligence (Moderate Capital Returns), reflecting no measurable direct capital returns. Direct capital returns are limited because the company continues reinvesting most of its cash. Capital Returns Intelligence is a research model and contributes nothing to the Suggested Investment Score or the daily ranking.
What changed
No meaningful recorded changes in the stored history.
Risk Intelligence is a core model, Long-Term Potential, Fundamental Momentum, Valuation Intelligence and Capital Returns Intelligence are research models, and Ownership Intelligence is supplemental descriptive evidence. Valuation Intelligence and Capital Returns Intelligence each contribute 0% to the Suggested Investment Score. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Compare APEI with other companiesResearch Collections
This company does not currently satisfy any collection rule. That is a stored research result, not a judgement about the business.
Browse collections60-Second Brief
Too few stored readings exist for this company to summarise honestly.
Composite discovery model
Suggested Investment Score
Suggested Investment Score
Score Pending — Insufficient Ownership Coverage
A composite score is only published when every required input is available for this company. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap, and exclusion from the ranking is not a sell instruction.
COMPOSITE DISCOVERY MODEL — RESEARCH STAGE · Ranking updated September 12, 2026
Researched separately
Valuation Intelligence 54 · Reasonable
RESEARCH MODEL
Valuation Intelligence is currently researched separately and does not affect the Suggested Investment Score or daily ranking.
Researched separately
Capital Returns Intelligence 51 · Moderate Capital Returns
RESEARCH MODEL
Capital Returns Intelligence is researched separately and contributes 0% to the Suggested Investment Score, the daily rank or any ranking event.
Why this company scores the way it does
This company does not currently hold a stored Suggested Investment Score, so no contribution breakdown can be shown.
Stored snapshots only
What changed
Research-score history available since September 2026.
Stored research history does not yet cover a full 30 days comparison for this company.
A change is reported as meaningful at 8 score points, 5 rank places, or any change of research classification. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.
Learn the metrics on this page
Plain-English definitions, with the formula and the limitations of each measure.
Fifth research lens · outside the score
Valuation Intelligence
Valuation Intelligence
Is today's price reasonable?
Valuation Intelligence is currently researched separately and does not affect the Suggested Investment Score or daily ranking.
54/ 100
Reasonable
RESEARCH MODEL
Good coverage
Compared with its history
40
Elevated
Is this company expensive or inexpensive compared with its own history?
Compared with peers
38
Elevated
How expensive is this stock compared with similar companies?
Earnings & cash flow
72
Very Attractive
How much financial output does an investor receive relative to the price paid?
Growth-adjusted
70
Attractive
Does the company's growth help justify the valuation investors are paying?
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC reads 54 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence, recorded as Reasonable. The stock currently trades above most of its own recent valuation history and above comparable companies. This describes the price being paid relative to the company's financials — it is not a forecast and not a fair value.
Price data through September 11, 2026 · Financial data through the quarter ended June 30, 2026
Valuation history
Stored readings only. The dashed line is this company's own median for the selected measure.
Only one stored valuation reading exists so far, so there is nothing to chart yet. Valuation history builds forward from activation rather than being reconstructed.
Current P/E 18.0x · own median 23.2x
Valuation is inherently uncertain. A stock that appears inexpensive can continue falling, and a stock that appears expensive can continue rising. Valuation Intelligence provides context about the price investors are paying — it does not predict short-term market movements, and it never produces a fair value, a price target or a buy or sell range. Model VALUATION_INTELLIGENCE_V1.
Sixth research lens · outside the score
Capital Returns Intelligence
Capital Returns Intelligence
How effectively does the company reward shareholders?
Capital Returns Intelligence is researched separately and contributes 0% to the Suggested Investment Score, the daily rank or any ranking event.
51/ 100
Moderate Capital Returns
RESEARCH MODEL
Excellent coverage
Dividend Quality
—
Not Applicable — No Dividend
Dividend reliability
This company currently retains rather than distributes cash through dividends. Capital Returns Intelligence therefore places more emphasis on its other measurable shareholder-return behaviors according to the frozen V1 methodology.
Buyback Effectiveness
30
Limited Capital Returns
Do buybacks actually reduce shares?
The company spends on share repurchases, but much of that activity offsets share issuance rather than materially reducing the share count.
Dilution Control
42
Moderate Capital Returns
Is your ownership share protected?
Capital Return Sustainability
93
Exceptional Capital Returns
Can the cash flow support it?
Shareholder Yield
35
Limited Capital Returns
Cash returned versus company value
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC reads 51 out of 100 on Capital Returns Intelligence (Moderate Capital Returns), reflecting no measurable direct capital returns. Direct capital returns are limited because the company continues reinvesting most of its cash.
This company currently retains rather than distributes cash through dividends. Capital Returns Intelligence therefore places more emphasis on its other measurable shareholder-return behaviors according to the frozen V1 methodology.
This company spent cash repurchasing stock, but the share count did not fall meaningfully because it also issued shares. Repurchase spending alone did not increase existing shareholders' ownership.
How returned cash was used
Dividends $0.00 · net repurchases $12.29M · total returned $12.29M · 18% of free cash flow
Price data through September 11, 2026 · Financial data through the quarter ended June 30, 2026
Capital returns history
Stored readings only. History builds forward from activation rather than being reconstructed.
Only one stored reading exists for this measure so far, so there is nothing to chart yet.
Why higher yield isn't always better
A very high dividend yield may reflect a falling share price or an unsustainable payout. Capital Returns Intelligence emphasizes consistency and sustainability rather than simply rewarding the highest yield.
Why buybacks can be misleading
Announced or gross buyback spending does not always mean shareholders are gaining ownership. Companies can simultaneously issue shares through employee compensation or acquisitions. Suggested Investments therefore considers actual share-count changes alongside repurchase spending.
What these terms mean
- Dividend Yield
- The annual dividend relative to the current share price.
- Payout Ratio
- The share of company earnings used to pay dividends.
- Free Cash Flow Payout
- How much of the company's available cash is being used for dividends.
- Share Repurchases
- When a company buys back its own stock.
- Dilution
- When the number of shares increases, reducing each existing share's percentage ownership of the company.
- Shareholder Yield
- A combined view of dividends and net share repurchases relative to the company's market value.
Capital Returns Intelligence describes how a company returns capital to shareholders. It is not a measure of stock-price performance, it does not predict future returns, and a strong reading is never a recommendation to buy. Dividends and repurchases can be reduced or stopped at any time. Model CAPITAL_RETURNS_INTELLIGENCE_V1, contributing 0% to the Suggested Investment Score.
Stored daily snapshots only
Ranking history
| Today | Not ranked | No stored score |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days ago | Not ranked | No stored score |
| 90 days ago | Not ranked | No stored score |
| First suggested | Not yet suggested | |
| Highest rank | Not ranked | |
In the company’s own words
What this company does
American Public Education, Inc., or APEI, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education to approximately 108,600 students through our subsidiary institutions. Our institutions offer purpose-built education programs designed to prepare individuals for productive contributions to their professions and society and to offer opportunities designed to advance students in their current professions or to help them prepare for their next career.
Our vision is for education to transform lives, advance careers, and improve communities. Our mission is to Power Purpose, Potential and Prosperity for Those in Service to Others. Our institutions of advanced learning are purpose-built to prepare service-minded students for employment, careers, and leadership in a diverse and changing world. Many of our students are from underserved populations for whom our institutions can transform their and their families’ lives. We are the number one educator of active-duty military and of veterans through American Public University System. We are a national leader in pre-licensure nursing education, focused on a Diploma in Practical Nursing, or PN diploma, and an Associate Degree in Nursing, or ADN, through Rasmussen University and Hondros College of Nursing, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or BSN degree, through Rasmussen University.
We have three subsidiary institutions: American Public University System; Rasmussen University; and Hondros College of Nursing.
American Public University System, or APUS, provides online postsecondary education to approximately 88,700 adult learners. APUS traces its roots to American Military University, or AMU, which was founded in 1991, as a distance-learning, graduate-level institution for military officers seeking an advanced degree in military studies. Since then, APUS has broadened its focus to include veterans, extended military families, and other public service and service-minded communities, with a focus on educating those who serve. APUS has two brands: AMU, which is focused on educating students from the military and national security communities, and military families and veterans, and American Public University, or APU, which is focused on educating career-focused working adults with an emphasis on educating professionals working in service-minded communities, including nursing, public health, public administration, and business administration. Today, while the majority of APUS students are undergraduate-level, students are also enrolled in its certificate, graduate, and doctoral programs.
Quoted from the business section of this company’s 10-K filed March 12, 2026. Read the filing
Four distinct intelligence areas
The IA view
Risk Intelligence
Production core
75
Fundamentally Qualified
No prior period to compare
Business Quality qualification score from the locked IA Defensive Research Core. Price Risk stays a separate category and is never blended in.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Long-Term Potential
Research model
31
Weak Compounder
No prior period to compare
Durable business economics and reinvestment characteristics. Independent external validation is pending.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Fundamental Momentum
Research model
49
Middle
No prior period to compare
Direction and breadth of change in underlying business fundamentals. Not a price-momentum signal.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Elite Investor Activity
Supplemental
—
Insufficient Data
No prior period to compare
No tracked manager filings mapped to this company.
Intelligence history
Not enough stored history to chart APEI yet. A company needs at least two published research or ownership periods before a trend can be shown.
Share price
APEI price history
Closing prices adjusted for splits and dividends, through Sep 11, 2026. Past prices do not indicate future results.
- 6M change
- -5.5%
- 1Y change
- +27.2%
- 3Y change
- +793.4%
- 5Y change
- +72.6%
- Max change
- +63.7%
Last stored close $44.94 · +27.2% over the selected range · 52 sessions shown
Balanced evidence
Why IA likes it
- No positive evidence is available under the current coverage.
Risk and uncertainty
What IA doesn’t like
- Ownership evidence is incomplete and should not be read as comprehensive.
What would change our view
- Business Quality falling below the frozen qualification threshold.
- Price Risk moving to a less favorable category.
- A sustained reversal in the Fundamental Momentum research evidence.
- New material public ownership disclosures.
Public filings · descriptive only
Elite Investor Activity
Reporting holders
—
New holders
—
Increasing
—
Reducing
—
Exiting
—
Coverage
Insufficient
Insufficient Coverage · Report period unavailable · Public date unavailable
| Manager | Change | Portfolio weight | Rank | Disclosed |
|---|
Insufficient high-confidence manager coverage.
Objective stored changes
What changed
No qualifying changes are recorded for this company in the stored research and filing history.
Ownership timeline
No high-confidence public ownership events are available.
General research only. Not personalized advice. Public filings may be delayed, amended, incomplete, or reflect positions that have changed since the reporting date.