Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Position Reduced by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC cut its Lazard stake by 86.8% in the first quarter, selling 32,420 shares and leaving it with 4,932 shares valued at about $210,000.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: Lazard now has a consensus Hold rating, with analysts split between Buy, Hold, and Sell and an average price target of $51.
• Lazard’s latest results disappointed, as it reported Q1 EPS of $0.42 versus $0.52 expected and revenue of $672.98 million versus $707.42 million expected, even as revenue rose 16.8% year over year.

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 86.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,932 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 32,420 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Lazard were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lazard by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $119,299,000 after buying an additional 221,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lazard by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $114,481,000 after buying an additional 6,429 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lazard by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,229 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $101,153,000 after acquiring an additional 180,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,929,435 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $93,693,000 after acquiring an additional 39,901 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Lazard from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Lazard Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Lazard stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.48. 1,523,697 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,901,360. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.21. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.43.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $672.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.42 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Lazard Profile

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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