Daily Stock Pick: Lazard

This week, I'm looking for the fourth financial services representative of seven for my Ivy portfolio.

That financial services sector includes six industries all Financial Services includes twenty industries ranging from Asset Management to 8 kinds of Banks, Credit, Exchanges, 6 kinds of Insurance, Savings, and all such financial concerns.

Today I'm reviewing a mid-cap capital markets firm named Lazard Ltd. Its trading ticker symbol is LAZ.

Lazard Ltd history can be traced back to 1848. The company's revenue is nearly equally split between financial advisory, such as acquisition and restructuring advisory, and asset management.

The company's asset management business is primarily equities (over 80% of assets under management), has an international focus, and is geared toward institutional clients.

By geography, the company earns approximately 60% of revenue in the Americas, 30% in EMEA, and 10% in Asia-Pacific. Lazard has offices in over 40 cities across more than 25 countries and over 2,900 employees.

Founded in 1848, Lazard Ltd is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

I use three key data points to gauge the value of any dividend equity-like Lazard Ltd:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Besides those three, several other keys  will finally unlock an equity or fund in which to invest.

Those first three primary keys, however, best tell whether a company has made, is making, and will make money.

LAZ Price

Lazard's price per share closed at $37.04 yesterday. A year ago its price was $52.71. Price fell $15.67 or 29.73% in the past year.

Assuming Lazard's stock trades in the range of $32 to $48 this year, Lazard's recent $37.04 price could rise by $2.96 and go to $40.00 by early-April, 2020.

LAZ Dividends

Lazard's most recent Quarterly dividend was $0.44  declared February 4th and paid, March 1st.

That $0.44 Q dividend equates to an annual payout of $1.76 or a yield of 4.75% at yesterday's $37.04 closing price.

Gains For LAZ?

Adding the $1.76 annual estimated dividend to my $2.96 estimate of Isabella's price upside shows a $4.72 potential gross annual gain, per share, which will be reduced by costs to trade those shares.

Say we put a little over $1,000.00 today at the $23.55 recent stock price would buy us 27 Lazard Ltd shares.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale costs $0.37 per share.

Subtract that $0.37 brokerage cost from the estimated $4.72 gross annual gain leaves a net gain of $4.35 X 27 shares

= $117.45 or a 11.74% net gain on a $1,000.08 investment.

Therefore, Lazard Ltd, whose trading ticker symbol is LAZ, now shows a possible net gain of about 11.4% including a 4.75% dividend yield.

Ten brokers cover this stock:

Four say "buy' LAZ.

Two say LAZ will 'outperform' peers.

Three say 'hold" LAZ.

One says "sell" LAZ.

Therefore, you can look at  Lazard Ltd and see it has made money, is making money, and could net 11.74% gains including a 4.75% dividend yield. It could be more, it could be less.

The above speculation is based on past year performance. The actual results remain to be seen to determine if Lazard Ltd is worth your time and money.