Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on LAZ. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $54.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.88. Lazard has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 10,306.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,918 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after buying an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth $8,430,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.