Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Laureate Education's stock has reached a new 52-week high at $26.65, showing a significant trading volume of 932,344 shares.
• Analysts have upgraded their ratings for Laureate Education, with BMO Capital Markets raising the price target from $23.00 to $24.00 and Wall Street Zen giving a "strong-buy" rating.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.79, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $524.20 million, marking a year-over-year increase of 5%.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $26.65 and last traded at $26.57, with a volume of 932344 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LAUR shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Laureate Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Laureate Education Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.39.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAUR. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Laureate Education in the first quarter worth about $36,637,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 510.4% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 1,214,700 shares of the company's stock worth $28,401,000 after buying an additional 1,015,711 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 113.8% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,288,851 shares of the company's stock worth $30,133,000 after buying an additional 685,998 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Laureate Education in the first quarter worth about $9,976,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 22.4% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,503,885 shares of the company's stock worth $58,669,000 after buying an additional 458,202 shares during the period. 96.27% of the stock is 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.