Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Grows Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Basswood Capital Management boosted its Lazard stake by 54.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 293,883 shares worth about $14.3 million. Institutional investors still own a majority of the company’s stock.
• Several analysts recently updated their views on Lazard, but the overall picture remains mixed. The stock currently carries a consensus “Hold” rating with a $52 average price target.
• Lazard reported quarterly EPS and revenue below expectations in its latest earnings release, even though revenue rose year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.50, implying a 4.6% annual yield.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 54.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 293,883 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 104,067 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.26% of Lazard worth $14,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 590 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Lazard from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Lazard from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $40.00 price objective on Lazard in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This trade represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $465,707.73. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $43.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The company has a current ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $672.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $707.42 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.05%.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. NYSE: LAZ is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.

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