Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Downgraded by Wolfe Research to “Peer Perform”

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report released on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LAZ. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on 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 cut Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.29.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $50.74 on Friday. Lazard has a 52-week low of $35.45 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 10,306.7% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,918 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5,770.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.