Delta Asset Management LLC TN Takes $96,000 Position in Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ)

Delta Asset Management LLC TN bought a new position in shares of Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,191,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 668.6% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 681,057 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $21,794,000 after purchasing an additional 592,448 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 6,544.8% in the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 480,489 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,376,000 after purchasing an additional 473,258 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 14.1% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,750,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $121,565,000 after purchasing an additional 462,677 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,560,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,335,000 after purchasing an additional 439,866 shares in the last quarter. 57.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAZ. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Lazard from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Lazard from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 19th. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Lazard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $26.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.26. Lazard Ltd has a 12-month low of $25.82 and a 12-month high of $43.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The asset manager reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.09). Lazard had a negative net margin of 3.87% and a positive return on equity of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $532.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $572.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard Ltd will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.46%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -169.49%.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers various financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital advisory, shareholder advisory, capital raising, sovereign advisory, and other strategic advisory matters.