Forensic Analysis · Professional & Commercial Services · as of Aug 10, 2026

American Public Education Inc (APEI)

A forensic read on American Public Education Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable

Forensic grade

Safe

Financial health

7.1

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

23.6

P / E (ttm)

10.7%

ROE

$918M

Market cap

0.14%

Dividend yield

3.9%

Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

American Public Education Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 7.1, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.

What the filings flag

12.7%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 12.7% in the latest fiscal year and rising from -25% — a modest positive spread over its ~10% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.

-0.4%/yr

FY2022–FY2025

Share count. Diluted share count changed -1% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (-0.4%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks ($4M) are about offsetting stock comp ($8M), not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.

$192M

FY2019–FY2023

Goodwill impairments. Took $192M of goodwill writedowns across 3 years (FY2019 ($7M), FY2022 ($131M), FY2023 ($53M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$648.9M

Revenue Growth YoY+3.9%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)+2.3%

Net Margin4.9%

Free Cash Flow$46.1M

Return on Equity10.7%

Debt / Equity0.32x

The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from American Public Education Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?

Generate the AI investment read →

No credit card · informational only, not investment advice · see the track record

← Browse all forensic stock analyses

Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 10, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.