Lazard (LAZ) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter. Parties interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.31. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $666.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Lazard to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $38.49 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.16. Lazard has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $42.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -206.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

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.