Wolfe Research Downgrades Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) to Peer Perform

Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Lazard Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $49.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.23. Lazard has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the third quarter worth $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth $211,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.