Lazard (LAZ) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Lazard to post earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Lazard to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lazard Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $38.49 on Tuesday. Lazard has a 1-year low of $25.82 and a 1-year high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.20 and a 200-day moving average of $35.16.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -206.18%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.