Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, for-profit education company Apollo Group (APOL) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

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

Apollo facts

 

 

Headquarters (founded)

Phoenix (1973)

Market Cap

$2.0 billion

Industry

Education services

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$3.8 billion

Management

CEO Gregory Cappelli (since 2012)

CFO Brian Swartz (since 2009)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

32.8%

Cash/Debt

$891.1 million / $87.6 million

Competitors

Corinthian Colleges 

DeVry

Education Management 

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 16% of the 941 members who have rated Apollo believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

A couple of days ago, one of those bears, mjfoysr11, succinctly summed up the Apollo underperform case for our community:

Pressure on the industry from the economy, regulatory changes and a doubling of student interest rates is causing the sector to lose new student enrollments. Increased competition from community colleges and online universities are also eroding the customer base. The top line is shrinking and once expenses are cut below a critical level the bottom line is going to plummet.