Laureate Education (LAUR) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAUR) is a leading global network of higher education institutions dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to a diverse student body. The company designs and delivers academic offerings through a combination of campus-based and online platforms, focusing on fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, education and hospitality management. By aligning its curriculum with regional workforce needs, Laureate aims to equip students with practical skills and industry insights that support career advancement and lifelong learning.

Through its network, Laureate operates a broad portfolio of universities and colleges, including both longstanding campus institutions and digitally native programs. The company’s academic model emphasizes experiential learning, industry partnerships and continuous curriculum innovation. Its online delivery capabilities leverage proprietary learning technology to offer flexible scheduling, interactive coursework and support services tailored to adult learners, working professionals and international students seeking accredited credentials.

With a presence spanning the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, Laureate Education serves students across multiple continents through a combination of direct-owned institutions and strategic alliances. Its footprint includes operations in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Spain, the Netherlands, India and South Africa. The company maintains local academic leadership teams in each region to ensure compliance with national accreditation standards and to foster community engagement.

Founded in 1998 by Doug Becker, Laureate Education is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Under the leadership of CEO José J. Peláez, who was appointed in 2020, the company has pursued a strategy of expanding digital offerings and strengthening quality assurance processes across its network. Laureate continues to evolve its academic portfolio and invest in technology solutions to support scalable growth and enhance student outcomes worldwide.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $31.59 to $32.34
• 50-Day Range: $30.09 to $35.41
• 52-Week Range: $21.16 to $37.91
• Volume: 466,340 shs
• Average Volume: 1.57 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $4.62 billion
• P/E Ratio: 17.03
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $40.00
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Laureate Education Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Laureate Education scored higher than 93% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 25th out of 272 stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Laureate Education has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.67, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 4 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Laureate Education has a consensus price target of $40.00, representing about 24.8% upside from its current price of $32.04.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Laureate Education has been the subject of 6 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 14.08%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Laureate Education are expected to grow by 14.08% in the coming year, from $2.13 to $2.43 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Laureate Education is 16.86, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.55.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Laureate Education is 16.86, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Discretionary sector average P/E ratio of about 16.91.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Laureate Education has a P/B Ratio of 3.86. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.01% of the float of Laureate Education has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Laureate Education has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.04.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Laureate Education has recently decreased by 5.66%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Laureate Education does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Laureate Education does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Laureate Education is 35.79%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Laureate Education will have a dividend payout ratio of 27.98% next year. This indicates that Laureate Education will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.6 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.11

News Sentiment

Laureate Education has a news sentiment score of 0.11. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.60 average news sentiment score of Consumer Discretionary companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 29 news articles for Laureate Education this week, compared to 3 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

3 people have searched for LAUR on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 50% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Laureate Education insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.50% of the stock of Laureate Education is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

96.27% of the stock of Laureate Education is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

LAUR Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have LAUR shares performed this year?

Laureate Education's stock was trading at $33.67 at the beginning of 2026. Since then, LAUR stock has decreased by 4.8% and is now trading at $32.0440.

How were Laureate Education's earnings last quarter?

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April, 30th. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.07. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Is Laureate Education doing a stock buyback?

Laureate Education's Board of Directors authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th 2025, which authorizes the company to buy back $150,000,000 in shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

When did Laureate Education IPO?

Laureate Education (LAUR) raised $536 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, February 1st 2017. The company issued 29,000,000 shares at a price of $17.00-$20.00 per share. Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Macquarie Capital, J.P. Morgan, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup, KKR and Goldman Sachs served as the underwriters for the IPO and Baird, Barrington Research, Piper Jaffray, Stifel, William Blair, Bradesco BBI and BTG Pactual were co-managers.

Who are Laureate Education's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Laureate Education include Swedbank AB (1.20%), Candriam S.C.A. (0.80%), Principal Financial Group Inc. (0.51%) and Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA (0.42%). Insiders that own company stock include Alberta Lp Wengen, Marcelo Cardoso, Richard Harvey Sinkfield III, Corro Pedro Del, Gerard M Knauer and Ian Kendell Snow.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Laureate Education?

Shares of LAUR stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Laureate Education own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Laureate Education investors own include American Water Works (AWK), The RMR Group (RMR), Waste Connections (WCN), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), AUO (AUOTY), iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/30/2026
• Today: 5/05/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Consumer Discretionary
• Industry: SCHOOLS
• Sub-Industry: Personal Services
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:LAUR
• CIK: 912766
• Web: www.laureate.net
• Phone: (786) 209-3368
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 33,900
• Year Founded: 1998

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Laureate Education: $40.00
• High Price Target: $43.00
• Low Price Target: $36.50
• Potential Upside/Downside: +24.2%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.67
• Research Coverage: 6 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $1.90
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.96
• Forward P/E Ratio: 15.12
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $281.63 million
• Net Margins: 16.08%
• Pretax Margin: 22.48%
• Return on Equity: 22.07%
• Return on Assets: 11.25%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.15
• Current Ratio: 0.57
• Quick Ratio: 0.57

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.74 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.65
• Cash Flow: $2.63 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 12.25
• Book Value: $8.31 per share
• Price / Book: 3.88

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 142,744,000
• Free Float: 140,603,000
• Market Cap: $4.60 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.40