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

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

Lazard Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.09. 443,157 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,173,891. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.11 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Lazard has a 1-year low of $25.82 and a 1-year high of $42.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.32.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. Lazard’s payout ratio is -206.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.