Brokerages Set Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target at $46.00

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.67.

LAZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday.

Lazard Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $38.98 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of -40.19 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Lazard has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $42.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -206.18%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at $102,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.