Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Outperform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $56.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior target price of $49.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.51% from the company’s current price.

LAZ has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $48.48 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.48. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.51 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $48.64.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.12. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.27% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,989,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,001,454.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,001,454.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,936,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 414,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,683,738. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1,165.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 176,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,142,000 after acquiring an additional 162,549 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Lazard by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 140,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after purchasing an additional 28,250 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 110,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,002,000 after purchasing an additional 35,103 shares during the last quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 149,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,196,000 after purchasing an additional 40,036 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $1,126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.