Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.91 and last traded at $36.6760, with a volume of 89128 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.10.

Trending Headlines about Laureate Education

Here are the key news stories impacting Laureate Education this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue beat and strong top?line growth — Q4 revenue of $541.4M topped consensus and rose ~28% year?over?year, a key driver for investor confidence in growth momentum. Laureate Education Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full?Year 2025 and Provides 2026 Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Share repurchase expansion — company increased its buyback authorization by $150M, which supports EPS per share and is typically viewed positively by the market. GlobeNewswire: Laureate Education Reports Financial Results…
• Positive Sentiment: FY?2026 guidance looks constructive — management set EPS guidance of $1.95–$2.03 and lifted revenue targets to roughly $1.9B, roughly in line with or above some sell?side expectations, supporting a positive medium?term outlook. Laureate projects 11%-12% revenue growth in 2026…
• Neutral Sentiment: EPS essentially in line — Q4 EPS of $0.76 met consensus, so upside was driven by revenue rather than an EPS surprise; investors may be waiting for margin or cadence clarity. Laureate Education: Q4 Earnings Snapshot
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is investing in digital and campus expansion — the company signaled continued investment behind growth initiatives (11–12% revenue growth target for 2026), which supports long?term upside but may weigh on near?term margins. Laureate Education shares rise 4% on strong revenue growth…
• Negative Sentiment: Near?term guidance and messaging caused confusion — some headlines noted an “earnings miss” and there are inconsistent/unclear Q1 guidance figures in reports that likely prompted profit?taking and volatility today. (Investors react negatively to mixed or unclear short?term guidance.)
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed market reaction despite positives — elevated trading volume and contradictory takes (some outlets flagged a miss while others highlighted revenue beat) created short?term selling pressure as the market digests the detail from the earnings call and slides. Laureate Education, Inc. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Summary

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $32.00 to $36.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Laureate Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. 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 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Laureate Education from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.88.

Laureate Education Stock Down 3.4%

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.57.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. The business had revenue of $541.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $527.10 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 24.42% and a net margin of 16.55%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Laureate Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.030 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Laureate Education announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAUR. Quarry LP bought a new position in Laureate Education in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Laureate Education in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 109.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 328.6% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laureate Education during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

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.