Career Education Corporation Stock Price and Value Analysis

Should you buy Career Education Corporation stock? (NasdaqGS:CECO). Let's see how it does in our automated value investing analysis system.

CECO Free Cash Flow Trend

Free Cash Flow trendline for Career Education Corporation

Hmm, we can't give any reliable projection for Career Education Corporation's growth rate. The company either has too few years of historical data for us to examine, or it's in the habit of losing money.

None of this means it's a bad stock. Maybe it's new and growing quickly, or maybe it's turning things around. We can't say anything sensible about it, so we won't say it's obviously undervalued right now. Proceed at your own risk!

AdvantagesDisadvantagesNeutral
None.
  • This stock looks overpriced.
  • This company is less known than others.
  • This company has wild ups and downs.
  • This company is not making money.
  • This company pays no dividend.

Inside the CECO Numbers

CECO Price
(Career Education Corporation stock price per share)		 $75.39
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PE Ratio Versus Sector

The PE ratio measures the reported earnings of a company to its current stock price. While earnings are easy to manipulate on the balance sheet, this ratio gives you a sense of what buyers are willing to pay for the stock—what they believe it will do in the future.

Comparing a stock's PE to the average PE of companies in its industry gives you a sense of market sentiment about the stock and how well it fares financially. It's not the only number, nor the most important, but comparing similar companies is valuable. A ratio far above or below that of its peers is significant.

Industries are more specific than sectors, so companies within most industries are more similar than are companies within an industry. Be aware that the size and customers of companies are important to their prospects.
PE Ratio versus Sector 68% higher than other Consumer Defensive stocks
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PE Ratio Versus Industry

The PE ratio measures the reported earnings of a company to its current stock price. While earnings are easy to manipulate on the balance sheet, this ratio gives you a sense of what buyers are willing to pay for the stock—what they believe it will do in the future.

Comparing a stock's PE to the average PE of companies in its sector gives you a sense of market sentiment about the stock and how well it fares financially. It's not the only number, nor the most important, but comparing similar companies is valuable. A ratio far above or below that of its peers is significant.

Be aware that sectors are very broad, with many types of companies in the same sector.
PE Ratio versus Industry 1385% higher than other Education & Training Services stocks
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Cash Yield

The cash yield of a stock is the ratio of free cash per share—real dollars available after bringing in revenue and paying bills—to the current price of the stock. It's similar to the PE ratio, but it's less prone to manipulation through accounting practices.

In general, the less you have to pay to make more money, the better.
Cash Yield -0.19%
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Free Cash Flow Jitter

The free cash flow jitter of a stock measures how much the company's free cash flow varies from its historical trend, on average. While it's always nice to make more money than you expected, a company with predictable free cash flow is stable and good. A company with wild swings in its free cash flow warrants further research.

In general, the lower this number, the better.
Free Cash Flow Jitter 225%

Recent Insider Activity

Open-market buys and sells reported by Career Education Corporation's officers, directors, and 10% owners on SEC Form 4. Routine transactions (tax withholding, option exercises, and stock grants) are excluded -- these are discretionary trades only.

Date Insider Type Shares Price
2026-09-15T00:00:00 NELSON TODD S (President and CEO) Sell 46,199 $32.89
2026-08-11T00:00:00 Jackson Gregory L. Sell 11,271 $31.78

This stock has short interest! This means that people have shorted it.

Why does that matter? They've made a bet that price will decrease from where they bought it. Maybe there are financial problems, or maybe there's a value play.

As of the latest analysis, there are 1,634,619 shares shorted. With 51,663,276 shares available for purchase and an average trading volume over the past 10 trading days of 602,460, it would take at least 2.713 days for all of the short holders to cover their shorts.

Is Career Education Corporation Stock on Sale?

Based on our analysis, we believe that you should not buy Career Education Corporation right now. It might be a good stock to own—we just can't prove it with value analysis right now. Proceed with caution.

Should You Buy CECO Stock?

Does Career Education Corporation have a coherent story? Does it have a plan to continue to make money? Is it worth your time? Only you can decide where to go from here. Our investment guide helps you ask the right questions, including how to buy stocks. Use these research links for more information.

Investing carries risk. We do not guarantee the performance of any investment.