Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Laureate Education recently achieved a new 52-week high of $24.61, up from a previous close of $24.47, with a trading volume of 36,460 shares.
• Analysts have upgraded Laureate's rating, with BMO Capital Markets raising the target price to $24.00 and Wall Street Zen shifting from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating.
• In its latest earnings report, Laureate Education posted an EPS of $0.79, surpassing expectations, as revenue increased by 5.0% year-over-year to $524.20 million.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $24.57 and last traded at $24.61, with a volume of 36460 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAUR has been the subject of a number of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Laureate Education Trading Up 2.4%

The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07 and a beta of 0.54. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.23.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laureate Education

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in Laureate Education by 260.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,901 shares of the company's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,540 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Laureate Education by 144.7% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,270,000 after purchasing an additional 210,239 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 43.3% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 7,813 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Laureate Education by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,317,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,098,000 after buying an additional 58,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in Laureate Education by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 935,239 shares of the company's stock worth $19,126,000 after purchasing an additional 282,901 shares during the last quarter. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.