Lazard (LAZ) Raised to “Buy” at Instinet

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was upgraded by analysts at Instinet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on LAZ. Buckingham Research upped their target price on Lazard from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. ValuEngine cut Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Zacks Investment Research raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, Nomura boosted their price target on Lazard from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.56.

Lazard (NYSE LAZ) opened at $52.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6,830.00, a PE ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.89. Lazard has a twelve month low of $40.22 and a twelve month high of $52.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The asset manager reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $624.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.19 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 17.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 25th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 9.0% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,701 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $179,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Lazard by 18.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,843 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its position in Lazard by 57.6% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 5,327 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the period. 73.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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.