Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 1,015,711 Shares of Laureate Education $LAUR

Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 510.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,214,700 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,015,711 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Laureate Education were worth $28,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LAUR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $267,081,000 after acquiring an additional 387,567 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Laureate Education by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,139,000 after purchasing an additional 30,808 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Laureate Education by 22.4% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,503,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,669,000 after purchasing an additional 458,202 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Laureate Education by 22.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Laureate Education in the first quarter worth about $36,637,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Laureate Education Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of LAUR opened at $30.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.85 and its 200 day moving average is $25.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Laureate Education has a 12-month low of $17.82 and a 12-month high of $32.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.61.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.77 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Laureate Education has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAUR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.67.

Laureate Education 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.