Lazard (LAZ) Expected to Announce Earnings on Friday

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) is expected to be announcing its Q1 2025 earnings results before the market opens on Friday, April 25th. Analysts expect Lazard to post earnings of $0.65 per share and revenue of $698.39 million for the quarter.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, analysts expect Lazard to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lazard Trading Up 4.3 %

LAZ traded up $1.56 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.96. 1,802,742 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 944,878. The company's fifty day moving average price is $43.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.27. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

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.