Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for Lazard FY2024 Earnings

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Lazard in a report issued on Wednesday, January 29th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the asset manager will post earnings per share of $1.96 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.18. The consensus estimate for Lazard's current full-year earnings is $3.90 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lazard's Q1 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.96 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.93 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Lazard Trading Down 1.3 %

LAZ stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.30. The company had a trading volume of 390,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,482. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.82 and a 200 day moving average of $50.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.41.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Lazard by 128.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,935,000 after purchasing an additional 381,546 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 184,965 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,522,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $674,000. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,390,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callahan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 52,965 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,727,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

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.