Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.29.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after acquiring an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,322,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 69,760 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $91,392,000 after buying an additional 15,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth approximately $296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $51.48 on Friday. Lazard has a one year low of $34.83 and a one year high of $61.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

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.