Azora Capital LP Invests $13.56 Million in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 269,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $13,560,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

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

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

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.