Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $46.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

Several research firms have commented on LAZ. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wolfe Research raised Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ opened at $39.32 on Monday. Lazard has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -40.54 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.29 and a 200-day moving average of $35.30.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.31. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $666.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -206.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $60,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $134,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Company Profile

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.