Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) saw a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,400,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the August 15th total of 3,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 926,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736 in the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the second 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. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $49.25. 107,840 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 994,497. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. Lazard has a 1-year low of $25.82 and a 1-year high of $50.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of -142.00 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.51 and a 200-day moving average of $41.80.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.43%.

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.