Head-To-Head Contrast: DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) versus Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of Lazard shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Lazard shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

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

Dividends

DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Lazard pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. DigitalBridge Group pays out 2.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lazard pays out -571.4% 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.

Volatility & Risk

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

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

DigitalBridge Group currently has a consensus target price of $19.22, indicating a potential upside of 19.19%. Lazard has a consensus target price of $51.14, indicating a potential downside of 2.66%. Given DigitalBridge Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe DigitalBridge Group is more favorable than Lazard.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DigitalBridge Group	$1.08 billion	2.60	$185.28 million	$1.55	10.40
Lazard	$2.82 billion	2.10	-$75.48 million	($0.35)	-150.11

DigitalBridge Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Summary

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

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.

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.