Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 43.27% and a net margin of 5.50%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS.

Lazard Stock Down 0.1 %

LAZ opened at $48.43 on Friday. Lazard has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.27 and its 200-day moving average is $39.57. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of -138.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.33.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total value of $1,853,040.33. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 414,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,683,738. Corporate insiders own 3.86% 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.