Edgestream Partners L.P. Takes Position in Laureate Education $LAUR

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 48,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAUR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Laureate Education by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,081,000 after buying an additional 387,567 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,139,000 after acquiring an additional 30,808 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased 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 acquiring an additional 458,202 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 22.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,150,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,968,000 after purchasing an additional 388,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Laureate Education during the first quarter valued at $36,637,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ LAUR opened at $31.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.60. Laureate Education has a twelve month low of $17.82 and a twelve month high of $32.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.18 and a 200 day moving average of $26.70.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.77 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAUR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 boosted their price target on Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.