Barbarian At The Gate: Lazard (LAZ)

Trade-Ideas LLC identified Lazard (LAZ) as a "barbarian at the gate" (strong stocks crossing above resistance with today's range greater than 200%) candidate
By TheStreet Wire ,

Trade-Ideas LLC identified

Lazard

(

LAZ

) as a "barbarian at the gate" (strong stocks crossing above resistance with today's range greater than 200%) candidate. In addition to specific proprietary factors, Trade-Ideas identified Lazard as such a stock due to the following factors:

  • LAZ has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume multiplied by share price) of $43.1 million.
  • LAZ has traded 663,851 shares today.
  • LAZ traded in a range 202.1% of the normal price range with a price range of $2.89.
  • LAZ traded above its daily resistance level (quality: 6 days, meaning that the stock is crossing a resistance level set by the last 6 calendar days. The resistance price is defined by the Price - $0.01 at the time of the signal).

Stocks matching the 'Barbarian at the Gate' criteria are worthwhile stocks to watch for a variety of factors including historical back testing and volatility. Trade-Ideas targets these opportunities because the stock is exhibiting an unusual behavior while displaying positive price action. In this case, the stock crossed an important inflection point; namely, 'resistance' while at the same time the range of the stock's movement in price is more than twice its normal size. This large range foreshadows a possible continuation as the stock moves higher.

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More details on LAZ:

Lazard Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 3%. LAZ has a PE ratio of 6. Currently there are 6 analysts that rate Lazard a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 2 rate it a hold.

The average volume for Lazard has been 942,400 shares per day over the past 30 days. Lazard has a market cap of $5.9 billion and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. The stock has a beta of 1.76 and a short float of 0.7% with 1.07 days to cover. Shares are down 7.4% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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TheStreetRatings.com

Analysis:

TheStreet Quant Ratings

rates Lazard as a

buy

. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and expanding profit margins. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

  • LAZ's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 4.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.8%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
  • The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Capital Markets industry and the overall market, LAZARD LTD's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
  • LAZARD LTD reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, LAZARD LTD increased its bottom line by earning $3.21 versus $1.21 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.75 versus $3.21).
  • The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Capital Markets industry. The net income increased by 348.5% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $88.86 million to $398.52 million.
  • The gross profit margin for LAZARD LTD is currently lower than what is desirable, coming in at 27.76%. Regardless of LAZ's low profit margin, it has managed to increase from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, LAZ's net profit margin of 68.08% significantly outperformed against the industry.

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