Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Receives $33.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.75.

Several equities analysts recently commented on LAUR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 upped their price objective on shares of Laureate Education from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Laureate Education in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR opened at $35.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Laureate Education has a twelve month low of $17.82 and a twelve month high of $35.71.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly 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). Laureate Education had a return on equity of 22.99% and a net margin of 12.86%.The business had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Laureate Education declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laureate Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 137,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,331,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Laureate Education by 1.2% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 3.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 0.5% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 113,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc (NASDAQ: LAUR) is a leading global network of higher education institutions dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to a diverse student body. The company designs and delivers academic offerings through a combination of campus-based and online platforms, focusing on fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, education and hospitality management. By aligning its curriculum with regional workforce needs, Laureate aims to equip students with practical skills and industry insights that support career advancement and lifelong learning.

Through its network, Laureate operates a broad portfolio of universities and colleges, including both longstanding campus institutions and digitally native programs.