Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was downgraded by stock analysts at Buckingham Research from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $54.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock. Buckingham Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 7.63% from the company’s previous close.
A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. ValuEngine downgraded Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Nomura raised their price objective on Lazard from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.56.
Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) traded down $0.86 on Thursday, hitting $50.17. The stock had a trading volume of 435,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 799,222. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $40.22 and a fifty-two week high of $52.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $6,621.96, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.89.
Lazard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the asset manager to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Lazard by 22.6% in the third quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 719,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,516,000 after buying an additional 132,714 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 4.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 25,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $769,000. Vident Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $550,000. Finally, Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. raised its stake in Lazard by 3.7% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. now owns 507,906 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,966,000 after buying an additional 18,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.47% of the company’s stock.
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Lazard Company Profile
Lazard Ltd (Lazard) is a financial advisory and asset management company. The Company operates through two segments: Financial Advisory and Asset Management. It serves a range of clients around the world, including corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships and individuals. The Financial Advisory business segment offers corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients across the globe a range of financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other strategic matters, restructurings, capital structure, capital raising and various other financial matters to corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients.
