Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $57.13 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.1250.

Several equities research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $50.58 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,169,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Lazard by 2,763.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,405,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,270,000 after buying an additional 1,356,800 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Lazard by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the second quarter valued at $34,305,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $24,424,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.