Piper Jaffray Releases Fourth Edition of the 'Valuation Conundrum,' a Postsecondary Education Proprietary Research Study

Piper Jaffray Releases Fourth Edition of the 'Valuation
Conundrum,' a Postsecondary Education Proprietary Research Study 


MINNEAPOLIS, July 26  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In the latest edition of the
"Valuation Conundrum," Piper Jaffray Senior Learning Services Analyst Mark
Marostica provides insight into what he believes are the drivers of the
valuation differences among publicly traded postsecondary education companies.

As part of his proprietary attribute analysis and scoring methodology,
Marostica assigns numerical composite scores to nine postsecondary education
companies based on results from 34 attributes in seven categories, which
include: program, student, revenue visibility, enrollment, regulatory, campus
and financial characteristics.  To acknowledge the significant impact recent
lawsuits have had on postsecondary education company valuation, Marostica added
a series of legal proceedings attributes to this year's study. Companies with
higher composite scores are considered more favorable than those with lower
scores.  Marostica then compared the composite scores with each company's
price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.

Through his analysis, Marostica found that companies with higher composite
attribute scores generally trade at higher P/E ratios.  "We believe our
analysis will help investors identify and explain 'valuation disconnects' --
instances in which a company's composite attribute score is not aligned with
its P/E ratio."

To receive a copy of the latest edition of the Valuation Conundrum, clients
should contact their Piper Jaffray representative; members of the media should
contact Dana Wade at  or 415-277-1556.

Piper Jaffray & Co. is the chief operating subsidiary of Piper Jaffray
Companies (NYSE:PJC), a focused securities firm dedicated to delivering
superior financial advice, investment products and transaction execution within
selected sectors of the financial services marketplace.  The company operates
through two primary revenue-generating segments: Capital Markets and Private
Client Services.  Investment Research, an independent group reporting to the
CEO, supports clients of both segments.  Piper Jaffray & Co. has served
corporations, government and non-profit entities, institutional investors and
the financial advisory needs of private individuals for more than 108 years.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has approximately 3,000 employees
in 111 offices in 23 states across the country and in London.  For more
information about Piper Jaffray, visit us online at
http://www.piperjaffray.com/ .

Since 1895. Member SIPC and NYSE. 

DATASOURCE: Piper Jaffray & Co.



CONTACT:  Dana H. Wade, Public Affairs and Media Relations of Piper

Jaffray & Co., [phone]



Web site:  http://www.piperjaffray.com/ 

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