Reviewing SHF (NASDAQ:SHFS) & Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

SHF (NASDAQ:SHFS) and Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SHF and Lazard”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SHF	$15.24 million	0.65	-$48.32 million	$3.40	1.04
Lazard	$3.05 billion	2.01	$279.91 million	$2.87	18.92

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for SHF and Lazard, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SHF	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lazard	2	4	2	0	2.00

Lazard has a consensus price target of $51.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.09%. Given Lazard’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lazard is more favorable than SHF.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

29.2% of SHF shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of Lazard shares are held by institutional investors. 7.4% of SHF shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Lazard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

SHF has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lazard has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SHF	-386.19%	-417.35%	-131.56%
Lazard	10.15%	37.64%	5.18%

Summary

Lazard beats SHF on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SHF

SHF Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides access to banking, lending, and other financial services to financial institutions serving the cannabis industry. The company, through its proprietary platform, offers access to business checking and savings accounts, cash management accounts, savings and investment options, commercial lending, courier services, remote deposit services, automated clearing house payments and origination, and wire payments. Its services allow cannabis related businesses to obtain services from financial institutions that allow them to run their business with enhanced financial insight into their business and access to resources. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Golden, Colorado. SHF Holdings, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Partner Colorado Credit Union.

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.