Lazard Ltd (LAZ) Shares Rise Despite Market Challenges

Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ) has experienced a rise in its stock price by 0.45 compared to its previous closing price of 33.02. However, the company has seen a gain of 1.04% in its stock price over the last five trading days. Zacks Investment Research reported 2023-09-14 that Lazard’s (LAZ) August AUM declines 2.9% to $237.3 billion due to a challenging market backdrop.

Is It Worth Investing in Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ) Right Now?

while the 36-month beta value is 1.42.Analysts have differing opinions on the stock, with 4 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 0 as “overweight,” 4 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”

The average price point forecasted by analysts for Lazard Ltd (LAZ) is $42.40, which is $9.23 above the current market price. The public float for LAZ is 108.66M, and currently, short sellers hold a 2.67% ratio of that floaft. The average trading volume of LAZ on September 15, 2023 was 682.32K shares.

LAZ’s Market Performance

LAZ’s stock has seen a 1.04% increase for the week, with a -1.04% drop in the past month and a 5.91% gain in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.56%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 2.56% for Lazard Ltd The simple moving average for the past 20 days is -0.54% for LAZ’s stock, with a -2.94% simple moving average for the past 200 days.

Analysts’ Opinion of LAZ

Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for LAZ stocks, with Keefe Bruyette repeating the rating for LAZ by listing it as a “Mkt Perform.” The predicted price for LAZ in the upcoming period, according to Keefe Bruyette is $36 based on the research report published on July 13, 2023 of the current year 2023.

LAZ Trading at -2.22% from the 50-Day Moving Average

After a stumble in the market that brought LAZ to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -23.64% of loss for the given period.

Volatility was left at 2.56%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.56%, as shares sank -0.81% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading +4.47% upper at present.

During the last 5 trading sessions, LAZ rose by +1.04%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by -9.74% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $33.34. In addition, Lazard Ltd saw -4.33% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.

Insider Trading

Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at LAZ starting from Stern Alexander F., who sale 49,000 shares at the price of $36.39 back on Nov 29. After this action, Stern Alexander F. now owns 50,258 shares of Lazard Ltd, valued at $1,783,110 using the latest closing price.

Stock Fundamentals for LAZ

Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:

• +20.30 for the present operating margin
• +96.51 for the gross margin

The net margin for Lazard Ltd stands at +11.93. The total capital return value is set at 16.28, while invested capital returns managed to touch 12.11. Equity return is now at value -0.60, with -0.10 for asset returns.

Based on Lazard Ltd (LAZ), the company’s capital structure generated 395.61 points at debt to equity in total, while total debt to capital is 79.82. Total debt to assets is 37.61, with long-term debt to equity ratio resting at 381.42. Finally, the long-term debt to capital ratio is 76.96.

When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 1.53, with the company’s debt to enterprise value settled at 0.48. The receivables turnover for the company is 3.91 and the total asset turnover is 0.45.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, Lazard Ltd (LAZ) has experienced a mixed performance in recent times. The stock has received mixed “buy” and “hold” ratings from analysts. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.