Ranger Investment Management L.P. Purchases New Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 270,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $11,344,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Lazard by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus reduced their price objective on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Lazard Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $44.14 on Monday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.67 and a 1 year high of $58.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.48.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.04%.

About Lazard

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.