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

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Lazard Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $49.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company 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 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the second quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $150,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.