Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys Shares of 487,806 Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired 487,806 shares of Laureate Education, valued at approximately $9.98 million, representing about 0.32% of the company's total shares.
• Laureate Education reported a 0.79 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 5.0% year-over-year revenue growth to $524.2 million.
• Analysts have recently upgraded LAUR's rating to strong-buy, with BMO Capital Markets raising its price target from $23 to $24, indicating positive sentiment towards the stock.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new stake in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 487,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,976,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.32% of Laureate Education as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAUR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laureate Education in the first quarter valued at $36,637,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 22.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,081,000 after purchasing an additional 387,567 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 43.4% in the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 935,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,126,000 after purchasing an additional 282,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 2,702.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 285,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 275,600 shares in the last quarter. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Laureate Education stock opened at $25.95 on Thursday. Laureate Education has a 52 week low of $14.45 and a 52 week high of $26.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAUR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Laureate Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

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.

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