For those that draw the line in the sand at $5.00 for a “penny stock,” Aspen Group, Inc. (OTCQB:ASPU) may be able to graduate out of penny-stock-land soon. Trading as low as $1.52 last July (and $1.21 in January 2016), the company has found a solid uptrend to tip the scales at $4.44 in December for its current 52-week high.
After a pullback from that high, shares are moving up again, including a 7.7% climb in morning trading to $4.04 on Friday.
Shares are being driven by the New York City-based post-secondary education company issuing two substantial pieces of news after Thursday’s closing bell.
First, in the third quarter of fiscal 2017 (ended January 31, 2017), Aspen reported revenue of $3.74 million, up 73% from the year prior quarter. The company swung to a profit, with net earnings of $7,377 versus a net loss of $689,718 a year earlier.
Aspen also had a record number 825 new student enrollments during the latest quarter, a 50% year-over-year increase.
Separately, the company said it signed a letter of intent to acquire an unnamed regionally accredited for-profit university based in California for $9.0 million. Payment will come in the form of $2.5 million in cash, $2.0 million in convertible debt and $4.5 million in ASPU common stock. $900,000 of the $2.5 million cash component will be lent to a newly-formed entity controlled by the loan’s guarantor who owns 100% of the voting power of the university.
