Ranger Investment Management L.P. Grows Holdings in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 584,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 79,505 shares during the period. Lazard comprises approximately 2.2% of Ranger Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ranger Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.52% of Lazard worth $30,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 7,144 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Lazard by 27.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,902,000 after purchasing an additional 163,983 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 8.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 18,444 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 18,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.13.

Lazard Trading Down 0.1%

LAZ opened at $55.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.58. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $58.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.32 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 7.49%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Lazard Company 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.