Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.47%. Lazard’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $38.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. Lazard has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $42.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.33 and a 200 day moving average of $35.35.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.