FY2024 EPS Estimates for Lazard Cut by Seaport Res Ptn

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for Lazard in a research note issued on Monday, January 13th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now anticipates that the asset manager will post earnings of $2.08 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.30. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.18 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.45 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.80 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on LAZ. Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.17.

Lazard Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $46.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.89.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lazard by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $91,392,000 after buying an additional 15,151 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $89,285,000 after buying an additional 37,681 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,918 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.