Comparing Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) & Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eagle Point Credit and Lazard”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Point Credit	$203.99 million	1.90	-$115.00 million	$0.61	4.81
Lazard	$3.28 billion	1.22	$236.83 million	$2.04	17.74

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.5% of Eagle Point Credit shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of Lazard shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Eagle Point Credit shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Lazard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Eagle Point Credit has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lazard has a beta of 1.47, suggesting that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Eagle Point Credit pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 38.2%. Lazard pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Eagle Point Credit pays out 183.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lazard pays out 98.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Point Credit and Lazard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Point Credit	-84.29%	-1.83%	-0.99%
Lazard	6.95%	23.58%	4.63%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Eagle Point Credit and Lazard, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Point Credit	0	2	2	0	2.50
Lazard	2	4	4	0	2.20

Eagle Point Credit currently has a consensus price target of $3.75, suggesting a potential upside of 27.77%. Lazard has a consensus price target of $46.25, suggesting a potential upside of 27.82%. Given Lazard’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lazard is more favorable than Eagle Point Credit.

Summary

Lazard beats Eagle Point Credit on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Point Credit

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S. senior secured loans. Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. was formed on March 24, 2014 and is domiciled in the United States.

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.