Brokers Issue Forecasts for Lazard’s Q1 Earnings (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn decreased their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Lazard in a report issued on Wednesday, April 9th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now anticipates that the asset manager will post earnings per share of $0.36 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.66. The consensus estimate for Lazard’s current full-year earnings is $4.24 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.42 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.60 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.11 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.50 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.77 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.78 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.00 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities decreased their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $34.64 on Friday. Lazard has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.62. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

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.