Investors Group Increases Stake in NEC to 4.2%

A group of investors has raised its stake in Irvine-based National Education Corp.

Richard C. Blum, a San Francisco investment manager, and several others purchased 273,180 shares in the vocational and industrial training school company, bringing their total investment to 4.2%, or 1.2 million common shares.

The group bought the shares between Feb. 5 and Feb. 20 for $4.93 to $5 each, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Blum, who serves on NEC’s board of directors and is the husband of gubernatorial candidate Dianne Feinstein, has said he is only interested in the company as an investment, according to NEC officials.

NEC has recently been suffering from flat enrollments at its vocational schools and administrative problems at a major subsidiary, Applied Learning.