Bridgepoint Education Inc. Stock Upgraded (BPI)

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, solid stock price performance, expanding profit margins and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 4.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 15.0%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• Compared to its closing price of one year ago, BPI's share price has jumped by 26.99%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, BPI should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• The gross profit margin for BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION INC is rather high; currently it is at 69.40%. Regardless of BPI's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, BPI's net profit margin of 10.30% compares favorably to the industry average.
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. When compared to other companies in the Diversified Consumer Services industry and the overall market, BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION INC's return on equity exceeds that of the industry average and significantly exceeds that of the S&P 500.

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Bridgepoint Education, Inc. provides postsecondary education services. It offers associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in the disciplines of business, education, psychology, social sciences, and health sciences. The company has a P/E ratio of 7.1, above the average diversified services industry P/E ratio of seven and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Bridgepoint has a market cap of $1.11 billion and is part of the services sector and diversified services industry. Shares are down 7.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

You can view the full Bridgepoint Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff