Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Grows Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 411,655 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,702 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned 0.37% of Lazard worth $20,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after buying an additional 37,681 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 10,306.7% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after buying an additional 1,223,918 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 2.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,099,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,377,000 after buying an additional 22,425 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 5,770.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $58.07 on Monday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.28 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.92.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Lazard 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.