Shares of Corinthian Colleges Inc. fell about 7% Monday after an analyst downgrade. Corinthian shares were flat at end of trading.
Jackson Turner, an analyst with Argus Research Co., downgraded the Santa Ana-based company’s stock from buy to hold.
About a week ago, research firm Zacks.com issued a report that Corinthian was experiencing “unusually low trading volume.”
The company runs more than 100 schools in the U.S. and Canada that offer degrees and certificates in healthcare, automotive technology, criminal justice, technology and other areas.
For the past few years, Corinthian has struggled with falling enrollment and more recently a shrinking number of student loans being made amid the credit crisis.
In November, Corinthian reported a quarterly profit that met Wall Street’s expectations and upheld its outlook for the rest of the year. The company’s profit for the September quarter grew 29% from a year earlier to $6 million, in line with what analysts anticipated.
Corinthian’s revenue grew 18.4% to $289.6 million for the quarter, beating the $286.4 million Wall Street expected.
The company expects profit to land somewhere between $11.9 million to $13.6 million for the three months through December.
The company’s stock is down about 9% for the year on a recent market value of $1.26 billion.
