Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Laureate Education $LAUR

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 16,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAUR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 328.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 41.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Laureate Education during the second quarter valued at $108,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 11.8% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Laureate Education during the third quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Laureate Education in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on Laureate Education from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laureate Education presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.75.

Laureate Education Price Performance

NASDAQ LAUR opened at $35.43 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.39. Laureate Education has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $36.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86 and a beta of 0.60. 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 (NASDAQ:LAUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.10). Laureate Education had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The business had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.77 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

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

About Laureate Education

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.