Q1 2024 Earnings Estimate for Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Issued By Seaport Res Ptn

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn raised their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for Lazard in a report issued on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now expects that the asset manager will earn $0.54 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.21. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $3.22 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.69 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LAZ. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Lazard Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $38.37 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.56 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.84.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $666.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Lazard by 88.7% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 489.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently -206.19%.

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.