Stock Earnings Roundup: Lazard Ltd. (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE:LAZ) reported earnings for the three months ended Mar2016 on April 21, 2016. The company earned $0.5 per share on revenue of $506.07M. Analysts had been modeling earning per share of $0.65 with $537.82M in revenue.

Highlights

Net income per share, as adjusted, of $0.50 (diluted) for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, compared to $0.77 (diluted) for the 2015 first quarter. Pre-tax income per share (diluted), as adjusted, down 31% from first-quarter 2015

First-quarter operating revenue of $506 million, down 13% from first-quarter 2015

First-quarter Financial Advisory operating revenue of $266 million, down 12% from first-quarter 2015

First-quarter M&A and Other Advisory operating revenue of $215 million, down 18% from first-quarter 2015

First-quarter Asset Management operating revenue of $240 million, down 12% from first-quarter 2015; first-quarter management fees of $226 million, down 6% from fourth-quarter 2015

Assets under management (AUM) of $191 billion as of March 31, 2016, down 4% from March 31, 2015, and up 2% from December 31, 2015. Average AUM in first-quarter 2016 of $185 billion. Net outflows of $361 million for first-quarter 2016

Return of capital to shareholders totaling $328 million in first-quarter 2016

Increasing quarterly dividend 9% to $0.38 per share, and share repurchase authorization to $300 million.

Lazard Ltd (LAZ) today reported operating revenue1 of $506 million, and net income, as adjusted1, of $67 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. Net income per share, as adjusted1, was $0.50 (diluted) for the quarter, compared to $0.77 (diluted) for the 2015 first quarter2. Pre-tax income per share (diluted), as adjusted1, was 31% lower than the first quarter of 2015.

Lazard Ltd. earnings per share showed an increasing trend of 131.5% for the current fiscal year. The company’s expected EPS growth rate for next fiscal year is 356%.Analysts project EPS growth over the next 5 years at 0.4%. It has EPS annual growth over the past 5 fiscal years of 40.2% when sales grew 3.7. It reported -14.1% sales drop, and 20.2% EPS growth in the last quarter.

The stock is trading at $35.18, up 21.97% from 52-week low of $29.26. The stock trades down -36.82% from its peak of $59.82 and 35.02% above the consensus price target of $47.5. Its volume clocked up at 1.44 million shares which is higher than the average volume of 0.89 million shares. Its market capitalization currently stands at $4.42B.