Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $500,000 in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Lazard by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $43.24 on Tuesday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 2.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.