Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.6667.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAUR opened at $30.44 on Friday. Laureate Education has a 1-year low of $17.82 and a 1-year high of $32.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.85 and a 200-day moving average of $25.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.61.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.77 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Laureate Education has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laureate Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,081,000 after buying an additional 387,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,139,000 after acquiring an additional 30,808 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Laureate Education by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,272,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,506,000 after acquiring an additional 105,712 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Laureate Education by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,503,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,669,000 after purchasing an additional 458,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Laureate Education by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,150,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,968,000 after purchasing an additional 388,143 shares during the last quarter. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.