Lazard (LAZ) Expected to Announce Earnings on Friday

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) is projected to issue its Q1 2025 quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Friday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.65 per share and revenue of $698.39 million for the quarter.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, analysts expect Lazard to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.08. The company had a trading volume of 445,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 937,631. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.03. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. Lazard's payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 over the last quarter. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

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.