Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The firm had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 517,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,174,315. Lazard has a 1-year low of $25.82 and a 1-year high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.32. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.11 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -206.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.67.

Lazard Company Profile

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.