Lazard (LAZ) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) is anticipated to release its Q2 2025 earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, July 24th. Analysts expect Lazard to post earnings of $0.37 per share and revenue of $674.13 million for the quarter.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The company had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Lazard to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lazard Stock Up 1.3%

LAZ opened at $52.59 on Thursday. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.10 and a 200-day moving average of $46.16.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 69.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 131.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 7,144 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 8.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after buying an additional 18,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 27.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,902,000 after buying an additional 163,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAZ. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.