Lazard, Inc. Expected to Post Q2 2025 Earnings of $0.80 Per Share (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn upped their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Lazard in a research note issued on Wednesday, July 10th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now forecasts that the asset manager will post earnings of $0.80 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.78. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.74 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.00 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $1.56 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on LAZ. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $41.44 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of -118.40 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The company’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 161.1% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 17,130 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 209,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,993,000 after acquiring an additional 4,851 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth about $226,000. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter worth about $6,733,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at $80,001,454.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,197,607.51. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,001,454.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 207,000 shares of company stock worth $8,321,128 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.41%.

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.