Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.33.

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Lazard Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $52.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 5,170 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 19.0% in 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 28.6% in 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 period. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 133.3% in 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 period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 216,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,662,000 after buying an additional 51,823 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.