Comparing Highest Performances (NASDAQ:HPH) & Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) and Highest Performances (NASDAQ:HPH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lazard	$3.09 billion	1.30	$279.91 million	$2.66	13.33
Highest Performances	$1.19 billion	0.02	-$39.86 million	N/A	N/A

Lazard has higher revenue and earnings than Highest Performances.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.8% of Lazard shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Lazard shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 87.6% of Highest Performances shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lazard and Highest Performances’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lazard	8.98%	44.58%	5.26%
Highest Performances	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Lazard has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highest Performances has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Lazard and Highest Performances, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lazard	2	4	1	0	1.86
Highest Performances	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lazard presently has a consensus target price of $46.83, indicating a potential upside of 32.05%. Given Lazard’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Lazard is more favorable than Highest Performances.

Summary

Lazard beats Highest Performances on 11 of the 12 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 Highest Performances

Highest Performances Holdings Inc. engages in the provision of financial technology services in China. The company distributes publicly raised fund and privately raised securities investment fund products through online and offline. It also offers insurance consulting, trust consulting, asset management, wealth management, and other ancillary services. The company was formerly known as Puyi Inc. and changed its name to Highest Performances Holdings Inc. in March 2024. Highest Performances Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, China.