Cwm LLC Grows Stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Cwm LLC lifted its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,285,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 37,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 268.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 60,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,126,000 after purchasing an additional 44,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $53.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 1.33. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 37.64%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.