Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $34.77 and last traded at $35.1090, with a volume of 118677 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Lazard from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Wednesday. Capital One Financial set a $38.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.12.

Lazard Trading Down 3.6%

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 business’s fifty day moving average is $41.11 and its 200 day moving average is $43.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.47.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.22). Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The company had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.29 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

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

Lazard Company Profile

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.