Lincoln Educational Services Co. (NASDAQ:LINC) Short Interest Up 23.4% in February

Lincoln Educational Services Co. (NASDAQ:LINC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 364,500 shares, an increase of 23.4% from the February 13th total of 295,300 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 173,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Lincoln Educational Services Stock Performance

Lincoln Educational Services stock opened at $15.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.87. Lincoln Educational Services has a 1-year low of $9.29 and a 1-year high of $19.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $479.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.61.

Lincoln Educational Services (NASDAQ:LINC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.11. Lincoln Educational Services had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $119.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.50 million. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln Educational Services will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Educational Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LINC. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 105,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 10,081 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $144,000. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 600,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,164,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Educational Services by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 440,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,255,000 after purchasing an additional 12,938 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on LINC shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Educational Services in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Educational Services from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.75.

Lincoln Educational Services Company Profile

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.