Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Trading Down 4.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) traded down 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $51.75 and last traded at $52.1650. 113,650 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,019,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Lazard in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, December 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Lazard Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.94 and a 200-day moving average of $50.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $770.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.91 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 35.02%. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $2,847,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,979,759.25. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 108,092 shares of company stock worth $6,030,986 in the last 90 days. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,710 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 0.8% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,812,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 12.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 5.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 358,970 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,543,000 after acquiring an additional 17,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Lazard by 357.5% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 11,242 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 8,785 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.