Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Short Interest Update

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,400,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the August 15th total of 3,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 926,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at $77,836,857.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736 over the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its position in Lazard by 3.3% during the second quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.70. 741,883 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 999,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -142.00 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.80. Lazard has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $50.26.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -571.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.71.

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.