Seaport Res Ptn Issues Negative Forecast for Lazard Earnings

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn dropped their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Lazard in a research note issued to investors on Monday, January 13th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now forecasts that the asset manager will earn $2.08 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.30. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $2.18 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.45 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.80 EPS.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $49.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Lazard by 17.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 129,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,949,000 after buying an additional 18,935 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 22.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $211,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $372,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Lazard during the second quarter worth $1,755,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Company Profile

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.