Stock Repurchase Program Initiated by Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Board

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR opened at $29.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.31 and its 200-day moving average is $25.10. Laureate Education has a 52 week low of $16.75 and a 52 week high of $32.42. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Laureate Education had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Laureate Education has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LAUR shares. UBS Group started coverage on Laureate Education in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, October 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

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.