Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $35.43 and last traded at $36.20, with a volume of 49466 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

Lazard Trading Down 8.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.36.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.