Cullen Capital Management LLC Has $14.09 Million Stock Holdings in Laureate Education $LAUR

Cullen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 602,831 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261,884 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned 0.41% of Laureate Education worth $14,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Laureate Education by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,081,000 after buying an additional 387,567 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 22.0% in 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 last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 106.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 49,872 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 7.5% during the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 549,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,241,000 after purchasing an additional 38,307 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Laureate Education by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 367,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Four 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 $33.00.

Laureate Education Stock Down 1.7%

LAUR stock opened at $32.14 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.10. Laureate Education has a 52 week low of $17.82 and a 52 week high of $33.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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). Laureate Education had a return on equity of 22.99% and a net margin of 12.86%.The firm had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Laureate Education

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.