Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

LAZ has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $48.33.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $47.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -136.28 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.41 and its 200 day moving average is $39.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. Lazard has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $49.59.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 43.27% and a net margin of 5.50%. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Lazard’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 414,000 shares of company stock worth $17,683,738 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 43,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 9,065 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 4.1% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,031,000 after buying an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at $1,089,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Lazard by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 278,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,648,000 after purchasing an additional 31,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amica Mutual Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth $5,700,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.