Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Key Points

• Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lazard's price target from $57.00 to $60.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.83% from its previous close.
• For its recent quarter, Lazard reported an EPS of $0.52, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.38, with revenue of $796 million compared to a consensus estimate of $674.13 million.
• The company's stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" from multiple analysts, with a consensus price target of $51.50.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $57.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.83% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on shares of Lazard and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Lazard Trading Down 0.6%

Lazard stock opened at $54.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 1.33. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. Lazard had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 37.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Lazard by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 18,700 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 218,890 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,502,000 after buying an additional 3,831 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $946,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $357,000. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $779,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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