Lazard, Inc. Forecasted to Post Q1 2025 Earnings of $0.79 Per Share (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Lazard in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, October 3rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the asset manager will post earnings of $0.79 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.77. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.40 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.82 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.24 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.25 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.39 EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price target (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.29.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $48.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.49 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.84. Lazard has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $51.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,497 shares of company stock worth $18,020,696. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $447,103,000 after buying an additional 152,857 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,031,000 after purchasing an additional 79,889 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter worth $65,650,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,875,000 after purchasing an additional 44,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 19.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,370,000 after purchasing an additional 77,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.