Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Receives $34.88 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.50.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LAUR shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Laureate Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Laureate Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Laureate Education in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Laureate Education from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Laureate Education from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Laureate Education Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ LAUR opened at $33.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.57. Laureate Education has a fifty-two week low of $17.91 and a fifty-two week high of $37.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. The company had revenue of $541.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $527.10 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 23.50% and a net margin of 16.55%.The firm’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Laureate Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.030 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laureate Education

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 219.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 213,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,729,000 after acquiring an additional 146,565 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of Laureate Education in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,389,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Laureate Education by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 19,942 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 273.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 158,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,962,000 after purchasing an additional 115,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC purchased a new stake in Laureate Education during the 2nd quarter valued at about $488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Laureate Education Company Profile

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.