Brokerages Set Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target at $46.00

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.67.

Several brokerages recently commented on LAZ. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

Lazard Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $38.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of -40.19 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is -206.18%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,165.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 176,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,142,000 after acquiring an additional 162,549 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 140,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,882,000 after purchasing an additional 28,250 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Lazard by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,019,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,603,000 after purchasing an additional 466,301 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in Lazard by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 47,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 16,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Lazard by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 245,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,602,000 after purchasing an additional 44,976 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.