Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Laureate Education, with four buys, two holds, and one sell among seven covering firms. The average 12-month price target is $40.50, compared with a recent share price of $38.62.
• Laureate exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.00 in EPS versus the $0.96 consensus and revenue of $615.9 million, up 17.5% year over year. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $2.04–$2.10.
• Director Ian Snow sold 427,019 shares worth approximately $15.5 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 96.27% of the stock.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.50.

LAUR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Laureate Education in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barrington Research assumed coverage on Laureate Education in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut Laureate Education from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $34.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Laureate Education from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th.

Laureate Education Price Performance

NASDAQ:LAUR opened at $38.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $37.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Laureate Education has a one year low of $24.98 and a one year high of $40.92.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 23.54% and a net margin of 17.57%.The firm had revenue of $615.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.56 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Laureate Education's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Laureate Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.040-2.100 EPS. Research analysts expect that Laureate Education will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ian Snow sold 427,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.26, for a total transaction of $15,483,708.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,646,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,695,708.24. The trade was a 20.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 521,229 shares of company stock valued at $19,103,350 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laureate Education

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,418 shares of the company's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 5.1% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Laureate Education by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 31,939 shares of the company's stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 20,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the period. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc is a provider of higher education services that operates universities and other postsecondary institutions. Through its network of institutions, the company offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, professional education, and related academic services in fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, technology, and social sciences.

Laureate primarily serves students in Latin America, with operations in Mexico and Peru. Its institutions deliver programs through in-person, online, and blended learning formats, and are intended to serve both traditional university students and working professionals.

The company traces its roots to Sylvan Learning Systems, which expanded internationally and adopted the Laureate name in 2004.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.