Seaport Res Ptn Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn decreased their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Lazard in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now anticipates that the asset manager will earn $0.45 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.57. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $3.15 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.36 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $0.83 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The business had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis.

LAZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet raised shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Lazard Trading Down 3.2 %

Lazard stock opened at $38.37 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. Lazard has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $42.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.56 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Lazard’s payout ratio is -206.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Lazard by 489.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. 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.