Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The company’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.87. The stock had a trading volume of 517,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,174,315. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.11 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.31 and a 200-day moving average of $35.32.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -206.18%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.67.

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.