How does Trendshare evaluate LINC as a worked example?

This example shows how we apply the Trendshare checklist to LINC: earnings power, cash generation, valuation, and margin of safety. We look at business quality, free cash flow trends, price to earnings, and whether there is a reasonable margin of safety at the current price of 25.37.

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation Stock Price and Value Analysis

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NasdaqGS:LINC) in our automated value investing analysis, with the cash flow history and price comparison below.

Key Facts

Ticker: LINC (NasdaqGS)
Current price: $25.37
Sector: Unknown
Industry: Unknown

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Hold-time calculator

Estimate how long you need to hold Lincoln Educational Services Corporation to reach your target.

Target type Target price Target total return %

Current price

Expected annual return (compound annual growth rate, CAGR)

Margin of safety (%)

Target price (Trendshare FV)

Include dividend yield
N/A

LINC Free Cash Flow Trend

Free Cash Flow trendline for LINC — Free Cash Flow trendline for Lincoln Educational Services Corporation

Hmm, we can't give any reliable projection for Lincoln Educational Services 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!

Advantages	Disadvantages	Neutral
This company is solid.	This stock looks overpriced. This company has wild ups and downs. This company is not making money.	This company pays no dividend.

Inside the LINC Numbers

	LINC Price (Lincoln Educational Services Corporation stock price per share)	$25.37
× 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. Close ^[?]	PE Ratio versus Sector	73% lower than other Unknown stocks
× 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. Close ^[?]	PE Ratio versus Industry	71% lower than other Unknown stocks
× 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. Close ^[?]	Cash Yield	3.30%
× 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. Close ^[?]	Free Cash Flow Jitter	195%

Insider Activity Summary

In the six months to 2026-11-10, no insider bought shares, and 1 insider sold in 6 trades, about $10.2 million.

The six months before that had 0 buys and 2 sales.

Recent Insider Activity

Open-market buys and sells reported by Lincoln Educational Services 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
2026-06-12	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	37,000	$46.88
2026-06-11	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	11,812	$47.87
2026-06-04	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	25,208	$51.13
2026-06-03	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	81,504	$50.10
2026-05-15	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	1,985	$50.11
2026-05-14	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	47,836	$51.16
2026-02-25	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	150,000	$35.67
2026-02-25	Juniper Investment Company, LLC	Sell	275,000	$34.55
2025-03-14	Bartholdson John A. (Chairman)	Sell	36,350	$14.82
2025-03-12	Bartholdson John A. (Chairman)	Sell	33,019	$15.47

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 2,133,135 shares shorted. With 27,795,629 shares available for purchase and an average trading volume over the past 10 trading days of 713,190, it would take at least 3.0 days for all of the short holders to cover their shorts.

Estimate Intrinsic Value (DCF)

Project future free cash flow and discount it back to today to compare market price vs intrinsic value. See how compound returns work over time.

📊 Intrinsic Value Calculator (DCF Method)

Calculate the present value of future cash flows to determine stock intrinsic value.

Annual Free Cash Flow ($):

Current or most recent year free cash flow (operating cash - capex)

Expected Annual Growth Rate (%):

Conservative estimate (3-7% for mature companies, 10-20% for growth)

Discount Rate (%):

Required rate of return (8-10% stable, 12-15% growth, 15%+ speculative)

Projection Period (Years):

Longer projections are less certain but may reveal more value

Terminal Value Multiple:

Exit multiple for terminal value (10-15x typical for mature companies)

Calculation Results

Total Intrinsic Value:

Discounted Cash Flows:

Terminal Value (PV):

Year	Future CF	Present Value

How to use this result: Compare the intrinsic value to the current stock price. If intrinsic value is significantly higher than market price (30-50% margin of safety), the stock may be undervalued. Remember, these are estimates based on your assumptions.

Learn to Evaluate LINC

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Free Cash Flow by Fiscal Year

Each year names the SEC filer that reported it, so a change of filer shows up here.

Fiscal year	SEC filer (CIK)	Free cash flow (USD millions)
2009	1286613	49.2
2010	1286613	81.3
2011	1286613	2.0
2012	1286613	-12.3
2013	1286613	-20.7
2014	1286613	-8.6
2015	1286613	1.7
2016	1286613	-11.8
2017	1286613	-16.2
2018	1286613	-6.2
2019	1286613	-3.1
2020	1286613	18.7
2021	1286613	21.9
2022	1286613	-5.6
2023	1286613	11.9
2024	1286613	5.4
2025	1286613	19.2

Download the yearly data as CSV.

Price Versus Our Estimated Value

Lincoln Educational Services Corporation reported positive free cash flow in 9 of the 17 fiscal years we have from its current SEC filer.

We do not estimate a fair value for Lincoln Educational Services Corporation while its free cash flow growth is not positive, so there is no value comparison here.

Average free cash flow over the last three years of data was $12.2 million, and across the first three years it was $44.1 million; over the period it fell sharply.

Free cash flow is volatile from year to year, with a variability measure of 195%.

Dividends are not in our data for Lincoln Educational Services Corporation.

Before you act on any of this, read what a margin of safety means and check the company's own filings.

SEC Filer History

Every fiscal year on this page is reported by one SEC filer, CIK 1286613.

Each figure on this page comes from that filer.

Risks to This Analysis

Free cash flow was negative in 8 of the 17 years we have.
Free cash flow is volatile from year to year, so the estimates depend heavily on which years are included.
We have no value estimate for this stock, so no price comparison is made.
This page's data was last updated on 2026-09-18. Prices and filings may have changed since.
These figures are automated calculations from SEC filings and the recent price. They may contain errors, and they do not reflect lawsuits, management changes, or other events the filings do not show.

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Questions to Answer Before You Invest in LINC

Does Lincoln Educational Services 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.

Step 1 — Snapshot
- Price: 25.37
- Market cap: $805M
- EPS: 0.73
Step 2 — Valuation checks
- P/E: 34.753
- FCF yield: 3.3%
- Date checked: Sep 18, 2026
Step 3 — Margin of safety
- Compare price to fair value and safety price.
- Look for durable cash generation and reasonable leverage.
- Decide if it passes your personal checklist.