Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Lazard, Inc. has received an average analyst recommendation of "Hold," with two sell ratings, four holds, and two buys from eight brokerages covering the company.
• The firm reported a quarterly EPS of $0.52, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, representing an annual yield of 3.9%.
• Recent analyst price targets for Lazard range from $45.00 to $60.00, indicating varied expectations among financial analysts about the company's stock performance.

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.50.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lazard from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Lazard Trading Up 4.7%

LAZ traded up $2.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.93. 961,993 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,120,543. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.44. Lazard has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,045 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Lazard by 4,698.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,758 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 5,638 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 62.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 167.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,252,000 after buying an additional 16,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Lazard by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 100,397 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,817,000 after buying an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.