Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $57.11 on Tuesday. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $30.11 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.04.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $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 worth about $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.