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

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The business had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.10. The stock had a trading volume of 335,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,172,557. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.11 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $42.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.32. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -206.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard 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 in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.86% 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.