Zacks Research Issues Positive Estimate for Lazard Earnings

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Lazard in a research note issued to investors on Monday, June 9th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the asset manager will post earnings per share of $3.24 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $3.21. The consensus estimate for Lazard's current full-year earnings is $4.24 per share.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. 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 increased their price objective on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.33.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock traded down $1.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.06. 673,588 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 979,950. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.99. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $698.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is 69.69%.

Lazard Company Profile

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.