UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrades Strayer Education As Results Are Stabilizing

In a report published Friday, Piper Jaffray analyst Peter P. Appert upgraded the rating on

from Underweight to Neutral, and raised the price target from $47.00 to $53.00. In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, “While the enrollment and pricing environments remain very challenging, with higher estimates on successful cost reduction initiatives and enrollments expected to turn positive in 2015, we boost our rating to Neutral from Underweight. We continue to anticipate modest secular growth given ongoing competitive and pricing pressures.” Strayer Education closed on Thursday at $51.82.