Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $53.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.50.

LAZ has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Lazard Stock Up 1.6 %

Lazard stock opened at $54.06 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Lazard by 209.0% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. 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.