Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ – Get Rating) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.86.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 13th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Lazard from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Lazard from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 7th.

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $33.74 on Monday. Lazard has a twelve month low of $30.85 and a twelve month high of $53.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.18. Lazard had a return on equity of 59.55% and a net margin of 16.76%. The business had revenue of $716.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 6th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.13%.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,916 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Lesa Sroufe & Co increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 55,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 4.3% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 2.6% during the third quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 13,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Roosevelt Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Roosevelt Investment Group LLC now owns 29,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period.

Lazard Company Profile (Get Rating)

Lazard Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers various financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital advisory, shareholder advisory, capital raising, sovereign advisory, and other strategic advisory matters.

Featured Stories