Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Reaches New 12-Month High at $42.60

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $42.60 and last traded at $42.58, with a volume of 65415 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Lazard Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.40 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The firm had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related 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 transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 207,000 shares of company stock worth $8,321,128 over the last three months. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1,165.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 176,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,142,000 after buying an additional 162,549 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 140,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,882,000 after buying an additional 28,250 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 110,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,002,000 after buying an additional 35,103 shares in the last quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 149,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,196,000 after buying an additional 40,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 67,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,353,000 after buying an additional 21,615 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.