Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) released its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The firm had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 443,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,173,891. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of -40.11 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -206.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.67.

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.