StockNews.com Upgrades Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock opened at $54.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.88. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. Research analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 52,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $108,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $2,809,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $530,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.