Lazard (LAZ) Competitors

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) and Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Does the media refer more to LAZ or AMP?

In the previous week, Ameriprise Financial had 1 more articles in the media than Lazard. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Ameriprise Financial and 21 mentions for Lazard. Ameriprise Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.63 beat Lazard's score of 0.19 indicating that Ameriprise Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lazard	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ameriprise Financial	20 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, LAZ or AMP?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lazard	$3.05B	1.91	$279.91M	$2.90	17.86
Ameriprise Financial	$17.26B	2.75	$3.40B	$32.14	15.70

Which has more volatility & risk, LAZ or AMP?

Lazard has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameriprise Financial has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in LAZ or AMP?

54.8% of Lazard shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Ameriprise Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Lazard shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Ameriprise Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is LAZ or AMP more profitable?

Ameriprise Financial has a net margin of 18.30% compared to Lazard's net margin of 9.96%. Ameriprise Financial's return on equity of 65.90% beat Lazard's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lazard	9.96%	34.33%	5.24%
Ameriprise Financial	18.30%	65.90%	2.02%

Do analysts rate LAZ or AMP?

Lazard currently has a consensus price target of $51.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.59%. Ameriprise Financial has a consensus price target of $534.71, indicating a potential upside of 5.99%. Given Ameriprise Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ameriprise Financial is more favorable than Lazard.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lazard	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Ameriprise Financial	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.13

Is LAZ or AMP a better dividend stock?

Lazard pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Ameriprise Financial pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lazard pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameriprise Financial pays out 19.9% 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. Ameriprise Financial has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Summary

Ameriprise Financial beats Lazard on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.