Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $34.63 and last traded at $34.8210, with a volume of 247,576 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Capital One Financial set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.25.

Lazard Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.47.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.22). Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%. The firm had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.10 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $379,092,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,275,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth $42,122,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth $33,756,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $31,564,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a global financial advisory and asset management firm. The company provides advice to corporations, financial institutions, governments and other public-sector entities on strategic matters, including mergers and acquisitions, capital structure, restructuring, shareholder relations and other corporate finance transactions.

Through its asset management business, Lazard manages investment strategies for institutions, financial intermediaries and private clients across equities, fixed income, alternatives and other asset classes.