Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.29.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,626,000. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,779,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at approximately $934,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,031,000 after buying an additional 79,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $51.96 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $34.25 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.