Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JMP Securities Analyst Says

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective upped by JMP Securities from $55.00 to $59.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LAZ. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $53.31 on Friday. Lazard has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $54.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.42.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 46.55% and a net margin of 8.28%. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd increased its position in shares of Lazard by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 3.5% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.