Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Bought by Penn Capital Management Company LLC

Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 274,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,083 shares during the quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned 0.24% of Lazard worth $14,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 8,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.4% during the third quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 52,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,789,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Lazard by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 44,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 23,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its position in Lazard by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 22,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lazard from $53.00 to $46.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.75.

Lazard Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $40.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.05. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $58.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The business had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 91.74%.

Lazard Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.