Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Sets New 12-Month High on Strong Earnings

Shares of Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $20.75 and last traded at $21.02, with a volume of 196330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.12.

The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.20. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 27.13% and a net margin of 15.76%. The firm had revenue of $423.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $411.50 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Laureate Education from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laureate Education news, Director Corro Pedro Del sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $489,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,251.88. The trade was a 45.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laureate Education

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAUR. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Laureate Education by 225.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,513,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,800 shares during the period. North of South Capital LLP bought a new stake in Laureate Education during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,973,000. Cape Ann Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Laureate Education during the third quarter valued at about $17,412,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Laureate Education during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,057,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Laureate Education by 207.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 824,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,703,000 after purchasing an additional 556,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Laureate Education Stock Down 6.5 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.84.

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.