Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the asset manager on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th.

Lazard has raised its dividend by an average of 2.1% annually over the last three years. Lazard has a dividend payout ratio of 50.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lazard to earn $4.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.5%.

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.84. 76,037 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 937,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30 and a beta of 1.39. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $54.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 over the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.71.

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.