JMP Securities Reiterates Market Outperform Rating for Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating restated by analysts at JMP Securities in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $55.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 40.29% from the company’s previous close.

LAZ has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.83.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on LAZ

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of Lazard stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Monday, hitting $39.20. 113,104 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,248,308. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,322,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 45,549 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,813,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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