Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.50.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lazard from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 target price on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $379,092,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,198,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $79,640,000 after acquiring an additional 49,802 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,900,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $80,713,000 after acquiring an additional 174,199 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $67,275,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 3.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,431,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,806,000 after acquiring an additional 48,607 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $39.56 on Tuesday. Lazard has a 12 month low of $34.13 and a 12 month high of $58.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.47.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $804.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $844.23 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.21%.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard is a global financial advisory and asset management firm. Its Financial Advisory business provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, restructuring and other strategic matters to companies, governments and investors.

Through its Asset Management business, Lazard offers investment strategies and portfolio management services to institutions, financial intermediaries and individual clients. Its strategies span multiple asset classes and investment approaches.

Founded in 1848, Lazard traces its origins to a business established by the Lazard brothers in New Orleans.