Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $34.63 and last traded at $34.8210, with a volume of 247,576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Lazard from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.25.

Lazard Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.18 and its 200-day moving average is $43.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $5,440,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth about $379,092,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,275,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,122,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,756,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,564,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a global financial advisory and asset management firm. The company provides advice to corporations, financial institutions, governments and other public-sector entities on strategic matters, including mergers and acquisitions, capital structure, restructuring, shareholder relations and other corporate finance transactions.

Through its asset management business, Lazard manages investment strategies for institutions, financial intermediaries and private clients across equities, fixed income, alternatives and other asset classes.