Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $51.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price target on Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 57.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Trading Up 3.0%

Lazard stock traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 337,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,536. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.10 and a 200-day moving average of $46.16. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.24. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. Lazard's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

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.