Comparing Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) & Beeline (NASDAQ:BLNE)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

54.8% of Lazard shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of Beeline shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Lazard shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 33.2% of Beeline shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lazard	7.49%	34.54%	5.98%
Beeline	-242.70%	-35.87%	-27.98%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Lazard and Beeline, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lazard	3	4	4	0	2.09
Beeline	1	0	0	1	2.50

Lazard currently has a consensus price target of $57.13, suggesting a potential upside of 0.29%. Given Lazard’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lazard is more favorable than Beeline.

Risk and Volatility

Lazard has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beeline has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lazard	$3.10 billion	2.07	$236.83 million	$2.18	26.13
Beeline	$3.77 million	23.04	-$11.33 million	($6.73)	-0.47

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

Summary

Lazard beats Beeline on 10 of the 15 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 Beeline

Eastside Distilling, Inc. manufactures, acquires, blends, bottles, imports, exports, markets, and sells various alcoholic beverages. It operates through two segments, Spirits and Craft Canning and Bottling. The company provides whiskey under the Burnside Whiskey brand; vodka under the Portland Potato Vodka brand; rum under the Hue-Hue Coffee Rum brand; and tequila under the Azuñia Tequila brand. It also offers gin and ready-to-drink products; and canning and bottling services to the craft beer and cider industries. The company sells its products on a wholesale basis to distributors in the United States. Eastside Distilling, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.