Contrasting Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) and DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG)

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) and DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lazard and DigitalBridge Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lazard	$2.82 billion	2.14	-$75.48 million	($0.35)	-152.60
DigitalBridge Group	$1.08 billion	2.60	$185.28 million	$1.55	10.40

DigitalBridge Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lazard. Lazard is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DigitalBridge Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Lazard has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DigitalBridge Group has a beta of 1.95, suggesting that its stock price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.8% of Lazard shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of Lazard shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lazard and DigitalBridge Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lazard	5.50%	41.78%	4.32%
DigitalBridge Group	35.10%	4.49%	1.87%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Lazard and DigitalBridge Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lazard	1	2	4	0	2.43
DigitalBridge Group	0	0	7	1	3.13

Lazard presently has a consensus price target of $51.14, indicating a potential downside of 4.24%. DigitalBridge Group has a consensus price target of $19.22, indicating a potential upside of 19.22%. Given DigitalBridge Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe DigitalBridge Group is more favorable than Lazard.

Dividends

Lazard pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Lazard pays out -571.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. DigitalBridge Group pays out 2.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Lazard is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

DigitalBridge Group beats Lazard on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services. This segment offers its services to corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign, and individual clients to various industry areas, including consumers, financial institutions, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, power and energy/infrastructure, real estate, technology, telecommunication, and media and entertainment. The Asset Management segment offers a range of investment solutions; investment and wealth management services in equity and fixed income strategies; asset allocation 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, Inc. was incorporated in 1848 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About DigitalBridge Group

DigitalBridge is an infrastructure investment firm specializing in digital infrastructure assets. They provide services to institutional investors. They primarily invest in data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, small cells, and edge infrastructure. DigitalBridge Group, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with additional offices in Los Angles, California, and New York New York.