Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target to $57.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $46.00 to $57.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the asset manager's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LAZ. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.59. 939,158 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 967,528. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.11. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Lazard's revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2,324.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,099,179 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $264,096,000 after purchasing an additional 5,847,608 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Lazard by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,263,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $97,990,000 after buying an additional 1,326,370 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,962,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lazard by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% 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.