Universal Technical cut to Hold at Argus on ‘murky outlook’

As previously reported, Argus analyst David Coleman downgraded Universal Technical to Hold from Buy with no price target. The company is integrating another acquisition, and while the reported business trends are positive, the outlook is a “bit murky” as student totals fell sequentially in Q2, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Universal Technical’s acquisitions such as the MIAT College of Technology in Michigan and Concorde Career Colleges, which offer programs in allied health, dentistry, nursing, and diagnostics, should help drive enrollment, but its expenses are also rising rapidly and its balance sheet is loaded with debt and other obligations, the firm added.