FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Lazard Issued By Zacks Research

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Lazard in a report issued on Wednesday, January 29th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the asset manager will earn $1.96 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.18. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.06 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.96 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.93 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LAZ. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $55.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.77. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Lazard by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 37,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 348.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 13,682 shares during the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 118.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 175,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,817,000 after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after buying an additional 1,046,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.