Brokerages Set Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Target Price at $53.50

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LAZ. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Lazard Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $54.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.60.

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). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 209.0% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.