Lesa Sroufe & Co Makes New $2.21 Million Investment in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 51,052 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,211,000. Lazard comprises about 2.2% of Lesa Sroufe & Co's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $555,393,000 after buying an additional 81,559 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Lazard by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $228,045,000 after buying an additional 240,938 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after buying an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,876,000 after buying an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,137,000 after buying an additional 638,169 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE LAZ opened at $44.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.82. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm's revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.53%. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.33.

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.

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