Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for Lazard FY2024 Earnings

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Lazard in a research note issued to investors on Monday, January 13th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now anticipates that the asset manager will earn $2.08 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.30. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.18 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.45 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.80 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results 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). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.17.

Lazard Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $45.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.02 and its 200-day moving average is $49.83. Lazard has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $91,392,000 after purchasing an additional 15,151 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 10,306.7% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

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.