Lazard, Inc. Forecasted to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $0.45 Per Share (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) - Analysts at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for Lazard in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now forecasts that the asset manager will post earnings of $0.45 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.57. The consensus estimate for Lazard's current full-year earnings is $3.15 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard's Q4 2024 earnings at $1.36 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $0.83 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $666.56 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The firm's revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of Lazard from a "d+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.00.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.37. 663,108 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,211,662. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.78. Lazard has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.56 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. Lazard's payout ratio is presently -206.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 800 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 489.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,727 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,839 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.