How to buy Lazard stock | $40.96

Lazard Ltd is a capital markets business based in the US. Lazard shares (LAZ) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Lazard employs 3,099 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$2.4 billion.

How to buy shares in Lazard

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Lazard. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: LAZ. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Lazard reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$40.96, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Lazard, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Lazard. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Lazard share price

Use our graph to track the performance of LAZ stocks over time.

Lazard shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-12-27.

Latest market close	USD$40.96
52-week range	USD$19.9954 - USD$42.452
50-day moving average	USD$38.9385
200-day moving average	USD$33.4836
Wall St. target price	USD$43.22
PE ratio	16.3329
Dividend yield	USD$1.88 (4.52%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$2.547

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Is it a good time to buy Lazard stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Lazard Ltd by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Lazard price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $40.96 from 2020-12-09

1 week (2021-01-12)	-9.08%
1 month (2020-12-22)	2.53%
3 months (2020-10-20)	11.61%
6 months (2020-07-20)	45.77%

1 year (2020-01-18)	N/A
2 years (2019-01-18)	3.99%
3 years (2018-01-19)	57.97
5 years (2016-01-20)	17.40%

Is Lazard under- or over-valued?

Valuing Lazard stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Lazard's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Lazard's P/E ratio

Lazard's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 16x. In other words, Lazard shares trade at around 16x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Lazard's PEG ratio

Lazard's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.5085. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Lazard's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Lazard financials

Revenue TTM	USD$2.4 billion
Operating margin TTM	17.93%
Gross profit TTM	USD$2.3 billion
Return on assets TTM	5.22%
Return on equity TTM	39.24%
Profit margin	11.99%
Book value	$6.607
Market capitalisation	USD$4.4 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Lazard shares

There are currently 3.1 million Lazard shares held short by investors – that's known as Lazard's "short interest". This figure is 110.2% up from 1.5 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Lazard shares can be evaluated.

Lazard's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Lazard's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Lazard shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Lazard shares traded daily (recently around 648655.04201681). Lazard's SIR currently stands at 4.76. In other words for every 100,000 Lazard shares traded daily on the market, roughly 4760 shares are currently held short.

However Lazard's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Lazard shares, or, against the total number of tradable Lazard shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Lazard's short interest could be expressed as 0.03% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Lazard shares in existence, roughly 30 shares are currently held short) or 0.0305% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Lazard shares, roughly 31 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Lazard.

Find out more about how you can short Lazard stock.

Lazard's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Lazard.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Lazard's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 25.07

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Lazard's overall score of 25.07 (as at 01/01/2019) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 44th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Lazard is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Lazard's environmental score

Environmental score: 0.47/100

Lazard's environmental score of 0.47 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Lazard is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Lazard's social score

Social score: 11.05/100

Lazard's social score of 11.05 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Lazard is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Lazard's governance score

Governance score: 12.55/100

Lazard's governance score puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Lazard is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Lazard's controversy score

Controversy score: 1/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Lazard scored a 1 out of 5 for controversy – the highest score possible, reflecting that Lazard has managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Lazard Ltd was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	25.07
Total ESG percentile	43.68
Environmental score	0.47
Environmental score percentile	2
Social score	11.05
Social score percentile	2
Governance score	12.55
Governance score percentile	2
Level of controversy	1

Lazard share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 66.43% of net profits

Recently Lazard has paid out, on average, around 66.43% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 4.52% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Lazard shareholders could enjoy a 4.52% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Lazard's case, that would currently equate to about $1.88 per share.

Lazard's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Lazard's most recent dividend payout was on 20 November 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 6 November 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Lazard share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Lazard's shares have ranged in value from as little as $19.9954 up to $42.452. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Lazard's is 1.6436. This would suggest that Lazard's shares are more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Lazard overview

Lazard Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. Its Financial Advisory segment offers various financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions and other strategic matters, capital advisory, restructurings, shareholder advisory, sovereign advisory, capital raising, and other strategic advisory matters. This segment serves corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign, and individual clients. The company's Asset Management segment offers a range of investment solutions and investment management services in equity and fixed income strategies; and alternative investments and private equity funds to corporations, public funds, sovereign entities, endowments and foundations, labor funds, financial intermediaries, and private clients. Lazard Ltd was founded in 1848 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Lazard is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 3.066% of Lazard shares are held by insiders and 70.862% by institutions.

• How many people work for Lazard?

  Latest data suggests 3,099 work at Lazard.

• When does the fiscal year end for Lazard?

  Lazard's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Lazard based?

  Lazard's address is: Clarendon House, Hamilton, Bermuda, HM11

• What is Lazard's ISIN number?

  Lazard's international securities identification number is: BMG540501027

• What is Lazard's CUSIP number?

  Lazard's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: G54050102