Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09, Zacks reports. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded up $2.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.28. The company had a trading volume of 799,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,001,986. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.93 and a 200-day moving average of $50.77. Lazard has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.50.

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.