Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Cut to Market Perform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $57.00 price objective on the asset manager's stock, down from their prior price objective of $65.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LAZ. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Lazard from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.29.

Lazard Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.04. 2,482,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 938,370. Lazard has a 12-month low of $34.25 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $150,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.