UPDATE: Bank of America Lowers Career Education's PO

According to a research report published this morning, Bank of America has lowered Career Education's CECO PO from $7 to $6.50. In the report, Bank of America said, "2012 & 2013 will be challenge years for CECO given numerous issues, including weak student demand, low job placement rates, & 90/10 concerns (schools can't receive more than 90% of revenue from federal financial aid), in our view. Management is not providing guidance given limited visibility, but it expects the career schools (Art & Design, Culinary, Health) to operate at a loss of $100-120mn in 2012. Our forecasts assume 18% start and revenue declines in 2012 and 3% start growth in 2013 but 3% revenue declines." Bank of America maintains its Underperform rating on Career Education, which closed Friday at $6.21.