Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.33.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $49.46 on Friday. Lazard has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $61.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.96 and a 200-day moving average of $51.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Lazard by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 5,170 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC increased its position in Lazard by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 133,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,851,000 after buying an additional 21,250 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Lazard by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 219,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,318,000 after buying an additional 48,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in Lazard by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.