PJC Piper Jaffray Companies

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., +1-415-277-1556 Web site: http://www.piperjaffray.com/

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