Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09, Zacks reports. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ opened at $54.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.88. Lazard has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.