Seaport Res Ptn Comments on Lazard’s Q2 Earnings (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Seaport Res Ptn lifted their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Lazard in a research note issued on Monday, July 14th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now expects that the asset manager will earn $0.36 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.35. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $4.24 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.96 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 37.64%. 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 previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LAZ. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 boosted their price target on Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 57.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

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.