Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Market Perform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their market perform rating on shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $47.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $62.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.75.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $44.89 on Wednesday. Lazard has a 1-year low of $32.04 and a 1-year high of $58.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.42.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The business had revenue of $892.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This trade represents a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total transaction of $318,317.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,756.01. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962 over the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $8,574,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Lazard by 44.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $616,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Lazard by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,146,174 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,658,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.