FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Lazard Issued By Zacks Research

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Lazard in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, November 21st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the asset manager will post earnings of $2.30 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.41. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.31 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.83 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.51 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.26 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.56 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.95 EPS.

LAZ has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $57.70 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a 12-month low of $27.14 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.20.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the second quarter worth $87,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the second quarter worth $88,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. This trade represents a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.68%.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.