CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. (AP) — CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. (AP) — American Public Education Inc. (APEI) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $12.6 million.

On a per-share basis, the Charles Town, West Virginia-based company said it had profit of 67 cents.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 39 cents per share.

The for-profit education company posted revenue of $158.3 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $151.8 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $25.3 million, or $1.36 per share. Revenue was reported as $648.9 million.

For the current quarter ending in March, American Public Education said it expects revenue in the range of $173 million to $175 million.

The company expects full-year earnings to be $2.15 to $2.47 per share, with revenue ranging from $685 million to $695 million.

American Public Education shares have risen 26% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $47.58, more than doubling in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on APEI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/APEI