Nuveen LLC Takes $11 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 253,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,285,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in 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 period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lazard by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lazard by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,094,723 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,358,000 after purchasing an additional 220,375 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 101.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,970 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $55.7660 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.53. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.54.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.13 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

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.