Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS.

Lazard Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Lazard stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,001,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,402. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $54.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.32.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 129.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.