Lazard (LAZ) Expected to Announce Earnings on Friday

Key Points

• Lazard is set to report Q1 2026 results before the market opens on April 24; analysts expect $0.699 EPS and $740.525M revenue, with an earnings call scheduled for May 1 at 8:00 AM ET.
• While Lazard beat the prior quarter's estimates (Q4 EPS $0.80 vs. $0.68 expected), several firms have cut targets and the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $52.50.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 (~a 4.1% yield) but has a high payout ratio (~91.7%); insiders have sold about 80,999 shares in the last 90 days, including a large sale by CEO Peter Orszag.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) is projected to release its Q1 2026 results before the market opens on Friday, April 24th. Analysts expect Lazard to post earnings of $0.6990 per share and revenue of $740.5250 million for the quarter. Interested persons can check the company's upcoming Q1 2026 earning summary page for the latest details on the call scheduled for Friday, May 1, 2026 at 8:00 AM ET.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $892.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Lazard to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lazard Trading Down 1.7%

LAZ opened at $48.38 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $46.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.42. Lazard has a twelve month low of $33.45 and a twelve month high of $58.75.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LAZ. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.50.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 shares were sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total transaction of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,829 shares in the company, valued at $465,707.73. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Xponance LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. bought a new position in Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $281,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Company 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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