StockNews.com Upgrades Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) to "Buy"

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.20. 770,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,073,330. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.96. Lazard has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Equities analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Lazard by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,406 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,370,000 after purchasing an additional 77,974 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 12.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 72,003 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,749,000 after buying an additional 8,115 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $360,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth about $336,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the third quarter worth about $299,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.