Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.13.

Lazard Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $50.58 on Friday. Lazard has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 2.28.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The business had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Lazard’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $80,169,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Lazard by 2,763.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,405,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,270,000 after buying an additional 1,356,800 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Lazard by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,685,000 after buying an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,305,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,424,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.