Nuveen LLC Acquires New Shares in Laureate Education $LAUR

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Laureate Education, buying 1,791,560 shares valued at approximately $36.6 million, representing 1.19% ownership of the company.
• Research firms have recently upgraded their ratings on Laureate Education, with BMO Capital Markets raising its target price from $23.00 to $24.00 and categorizing it as "outperform."
• Laureate Education reported strong quarterly earnings, with $0.79 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a 5% year-over-year revenue increase.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,791,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,637,000. Nuveen LLC owned 1.19% of Laureate Education at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Laureate Education by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,150,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,968,000 after purchasing an additional 388,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company's stock worth $267,081,000 after acquiring an additional 387,567 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Laureate Education during the 1st quarter worth approximately $580,000. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Laureate Education during the 1st quarter worth approximately $411,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 105.0% during the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 22,952 shares of the company's stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 11,754 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAUR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Laureate Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Laureate Education currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $24.00.

Laureate Education Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of LAUR traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.21. The company had a trading volume of 552,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,051. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $23.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.53. Laureate Education has a 52 week low of $14.45 and a 52 week high of $26.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.54.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $524.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $502.00 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 29.46% and a net margin of 16.41%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Laureate Education has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Laureate Education Company Profile

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.