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4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Ambassadors Group

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, educational travel specialist Ambassadors Group (Nasdaq: EPAX  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Ambassadors' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Ambassadors Group facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Spokane, Wash. (1967)

Market Cap

$245.1 million

Industry

Education and training services

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$103.9 million

Management

CEO Jeffrey Thomas (since 2001)
CFO Chadwick Byrd (since 2005)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years, Not Including Quarter Just Ended)

34.5%

Cash/Debt

$109.5 million / $0

Dividend Yield

1.8%

Other Education Service Stocks

Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL  )
New Oriental Education & Technology (NYSE: EDU  )

CAPS Members Bullish on EPAX Also Bullish on

General Electric (NYSE: GE  )
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  )

CAPS Members Bearish on EPAX Also Bearish on

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD  )
Ford Motor (NYSE: F  )

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96.5% of the 493 members who have rated Ambassadors believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Stars SlowThought and TSIF, both of whom are ranked in the top 15% of our community.

Just last Friday, SlowThought helped school Fools on several of the stock's positives: "Revenue decline seems to be bottoming out. Good cash flow, good margin, and a dividend."

In a pitch from one day earlier, TSIF expands on Ambassadors' recent miss as a tasty turnaround opportunity. Here's an excerpt:

With a 20% stock price trimming today after disappointing Mr. Market with it’s earnings I gave it another look. The recession has clearly affected it as it’s bookings for student travel have dropped significantly. Ambassadors has a niche market moving around students, athletes and professionals domestically and worldwide. … With profit margins of 20% and operating margins of 29% even in a period of no growth the revenue and cash flow stream are impressive … If the economy continues to lag, swine flu becomes an issue, or airline travel becomes undesirable then there might be a better entry point down the line, but at this time, the buy low and sell high model points to taking a chance.

What do you think about Ambassadors, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!  

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Apollo Group is a Motley Fool Inside Value pick, Johnson & Johnson is a choice of Income Investor, and Ambassadors is a Motley Fool Hidden Gems recommendation. The Fool owns shares of Ambassadors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.


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