Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 43.27% and a net margin of 5.50%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS.

Lazard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,449,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,278,187. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.57. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 414,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,683,738. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.33.

Lazard Company 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.