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

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.00.

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $48.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.25. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 2.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 35.02% and a net margin of 8.89%.The company had revenue of $782.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.05%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares in the company, valued at $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 over the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Lazard during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Lazard by 57.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.