UTI Partners MMI for Intern Program

Universal Technical Institute (UTI - Analyst Report), a leading provider of post secondary education in the fields of professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine, recently announced Chapparal Honda L&Mc Racing as part of its 2013 MMI Supercross Intern Program, under its Motorcycle Mechanics Institute.

From 2013 onwards, the students of Motorcycle Mechanics Institute will get the opportunity to work with the experts of the racing industry. Besides experiencing a race weekend, the students will get the opportunity to work as technicians to the L&Mc Racing team. Alongside, the students will get a chance to work on race bikes. The present introduction of Chapparal Honda L&Mc Racing will encourage enrollment by improving the interface between the industry and the education sector.

Enrollments at Universal Technical have been trending down consistently over the past few quarters as a result of macroeconomic headwinds and continued challenges in obtaining student financing.

The company expects new student starts to decline in the first half of 2013. Numbers may improve during the remainder of fiscal 2013. As such, new student starts are expected to remain flat year over year. However, the company expects the number of applications to increase in fiscal 2013.

We currently have a ‘Neutral’ recommendation on Universal Technical over the long term. The stock carries a Zacks #4 Rank that translates into a short-term ‘Sell’ rating.

However, a peer of Universal Technical, DeVry Inc. (DV - Analyst Report) carries a Zacks #2 Rank that translates into a short-term Buy rating, owing to its better-than-expected new enrollment growth at healthcare institutions and sequential improvement in new enrollments at the flagship DeVry University.