FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Lazard Issued By Zacks Research

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Lazard in a research note issued on Thursday, November 21st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the asset manager will post earnings per share of $2.30 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.41. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.27 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.83 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.51 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.26 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.56 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.95 EPS.

LAZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $59.70 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.25. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a 12 month low of $27.30 and a 12 month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS 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 company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,650,000. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after buying an additional 1,223,918 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $13,560,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This trade represents a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

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.