BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has initiated coverage on Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) with a "market perform" rating and a price target of $56.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.22% from the stock's last close.
• Several analysts have issued ratings on Lazard, with three giving it a Buy rating, five a Hold rating, and two a Sell rating, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.14.
• Lazard reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $796 million, significantly higher than the expected $674.13 million, marking a year-over-year revenue increase of 16.2%.

Research analysts at BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "market perform" rating and a $56.00 price target on the asset manager's stock. BMO Capital Markets' target price points to a potential upside of 7.22% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price target on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.14.

Lazard Trading Up 1.4%

LAZ opened at $52.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $54.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.53. Lazard has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $674.13 million. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,979,759.25. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 over the last three months. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter worth about $28,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. 54.80% of the stock is 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.

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