Universal Technical Institute Inc (UTI) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
Forensic Analysis · Professional & Commercial Services · as of Aug 10, 2026
Universal Technical Institute Inc (UTI)
A forensic read on Universal Technical Institute Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
4.6
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
37.3
P / E (ttm)
19.2%
ROE
$1.6B
Market cap
0.00%
Dividend yield
14.0%
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.
Universal Technical Institute Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 4.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).
What the filings flag
+24.9%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +24.9% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building sharply — a large slice of profit sits in operating assets, not cash; Richardson/Sloan link high accruals to weaker future returns as they reverse. The build is led by receivables up +48% against revenue +14%. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 13% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
+18.1%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +65% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+18.1%/yr). The count is growing: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~18.1% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~39%.
stopped
FY2016→FY2018
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $1M of buybacks + dividends in FY2016, but ~$0 in FY2018. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
suspended
FY2016→FY2018
Dividend — suspended.The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $1M paid in FY2016, then $0 in FY2018. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.
13.2%
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$835.6M
Revenue Growth YoY+14.0%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+25.9%
Net Margin7.5%
Free Cash Flow$55.4M
Return on Equity19.2%
Debt / Equity0.27x
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 Universal Technical Institute Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 10, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 13.2% in the latest fiscal year and rising from 6% — a modest positive spread over its ~10% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.
1.1% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 1.1% of revenue and 17% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.16 per diluted share. The cost of it is not in the cash flow — no cash left the business — it is in the count, and there it has run at about 19.7% a year and is falling.