Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Lazard shares gapped up at the open, rising from a prior close of $46.36 to $49.54 before settling around $48.04 in early trading.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: recent price-target cuts came from several firms, and the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $52.56.
• The company recently missed earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter, though revenue still rose 16.8% year over year; Lazard also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, yielding about 4.2%.

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $46.36, but opened at $49.54. Lazard shares last traded at $48.0410, with a volume of 310,534 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LAZ. Argus dropped their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lazard from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.56.

Lazard Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. The stock's 50-day moving average is $46.31 and its 200 day moving average is $48.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $707.42 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total transaction of $318,317.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,756.01. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. This trade represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962 over the last three months. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at about $89,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Lazard by 28.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 448,446 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $19,050,000 after acquiring an additional 99,110 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Lazard during the first quarter worth about $3,392,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Lazard by 3.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,431,358 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $60,806,000 after acquiring an additional 48,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Lazard by 2,607.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 155,224 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,594,000 after acquiring an additional 149,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

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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