LAZ vs PJT Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
LAZ (Lazard) and PJT (PJT Partners) are both independent advisory firms with significant restructuring capabilities — Lazard is the prestigious 175-year-old global institution with sovereign debt restructuring uniqueness, $200B+ asset management, and global brand heritage, while PJT Partners is the rapidly growing boutique founded by Paul Taubman with three high-quality revenue streams: Strategic Advisory, Restructuring, and Park Hill private fund placement advisory.
LAZ vs PJT is 175-year-old global advisory institution with sovereign debt restructuring uniqueness and asset management diversification (Lazard's unmatched sovereign advisory, $200B+ AUM, and historical brand heritage — managing asset management performance risk and compensation structure legacy) versus rapidly growing pure-play advisory boutique with Park Hill PE fundraising advisory as third revenue pillar (PJT Partners' strategic advisory, restructuring, and Park Hill placement growth — building brand recognition as a younger firm while executing on PE fundraising cycle opportunity).
PJT holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. PJT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-22.35% vs -27.40%), though LAZ has the better forward P/E setup (11.23x vs 19.98x for PJT). PJT leads on both revenue growth (19.50%) and operating margin (20.99%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for LAZ (+9.64%) than for PJT (+3.67%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want the most prestigious and globally recognized independent advisory firm with a 175-year history and unique sovereign debt restructuring capability
- Value Lazard's asset management business as providing revenue diversification from M&A advisory cyclicality through $200B+ AUM generating more stable management fee income
- Believe Lazard's historical brand and global relationship network provides competitive advantages for premier mandates that younger boutiques cannot match
- Want a rapidly growing boutique advisory firm with three complementary revenue streams (Strategic Advisory, Restructuring, and Park Hill) across different market cycles
- Value Park Hill's PE fundraising advisory as capturing the long-term growth of private markets capital formation — a structural growth trend as institutional investors allocate more to alternative assets
- See PJT's pure-play advisory model, Paul Taubman's leadership, and focus on the most complex transactions as positioning it to continue gaining market share from both bulge-bracket banks and older boutiques
| Metric | LAZ | PJT |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 32.5 | 44.6 |
| AI ranki | #1999 | #596 |
| Latest closei | $36.16 | $136.12 |
| 1M returni | -6.39% | -12.37% |
| 3M returni | -16.82% | -18.48% |
| 6M returni | -25.18% | -16.02% |
| 1Y returni | -27.40% | -22.35% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | LAZ | PJT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $7.43K (-25.7%) started 2025-10-16 | $7.81K (-21.9%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $7.11K (-28.9%) started 2021-10-18 | $17.75K (+77.5%) started 2021-10-15 |
| 10Y ago | $10.58K (+5.8%) started 2016-10-17 | $64.53K (+545.3%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | LAZ | PJT |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $4.21B | $7.72B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 21.29 | 24.68 |
| Forward P/Ei | 11.23 | 19.98 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.69 | 2.89 |
| Analyst targeti | $47.38 | $187.80 |
| Target upsidei | +9.64% | +3.67% |
| Metric | LAZ | PJT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 0.10% | 19.50% |
| Earnings growthi | -94.20% | 37.50% |
| EPS growthi | -94.20% | +37.50% |
| FCF margini | N/A | N/A |
| Operating margini | 4.83% | 20.99% |
| Profit margini | 7.09% | 10.58% |
| ROIC proxyi | 25.66% | 37.63% |
| Return on equityi | 25.66% | 37.63% |
| Dividend yieldi | 4.73% | 0.56% |
| Payout ratioi | 98.04% | 13.66% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.42 | 0.83 |
| Debt/equityi | 225.80 | 42.65 |
| Current ratioi | 5.30 | 1.71 |
| Quick ratioi | 4.79 | 1.71 |
Over the past year, LAZ and PJT have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.61), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | LAZ | PJT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -25.66% | -22.35% |
| CAGRi | -25.70% | -22.36% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.06% | 33.22% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.60 | -0.73 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.79 | -0.97 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.19% | 32.47% | |
| Current drawdowni | 36.56% | 28.56% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.47% | 14.64% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 20.63% | 16.88% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.56% | 7.69% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 15.00% | 14.71% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -28.92% | +69.13% |
| CAGRi | -6.61% | +11.08% | |
| Volatilityi | 38.24% | 31.06% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.11 | 0.35 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.15 | 0.50 | |
| Max drawdowni | 50.16% | 37.80% | |
| Current drawdowni | 40.73% | 28.56% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 26.28% | 12.66% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 28.57% | 15.26% | |
| Max daily dropi | 15.08% | 8.57% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.76% | 14.71% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +5.79% | +477.55% |
| CAGRi | +0.56% | +19.18% | |
| Volatilityi | 36.29% | 33.75% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.07 | 0.56 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.10 | 0.80 | |
| Max drawdowni | 64.55% | 58.44% | |
| Current drawdowni | 40.73% | 28.56% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 27.69% | 13.17% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 31.58% | 16.95% | |
| Max daily dropi | 17.12% | 23.34% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 29.51% | 37.43% |
| Category | LAZ | PJT |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Lazard Ltd | PJT Partners Inc. |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Capital Markets | Capital Markets |
| Core business | Lazard is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious investment banks, founded in 1848, advising corporations, governments, sovereign nations, and private investors on M&A, restructuring, and capital markets strategy. Lazard operates two primary businesses: Financial Advisory (M&A advisory, restructuring, sovereign advisory, shareholder advisory) and Asset Management (institutional asset management with approximately $200B+ in AUM across equities and fixed income). Lazard has unique expertise in sovereign debt restructuring — advising countries (Argentina, Greece, Ukraine, Sri Lanka) on restructuring government debt obligations — a niche that bulge-bracket banks rarely engage in. Lazard restructured as a public company in 2005 after operating as a partnership for 157 years. | PJT Partners is a pure-play advisory investment bank founded in 2015 through the spin-off of Blackstone Group's advisory business by Paul Taubman (former Morgan Stanley co-president). PJT operates three advisory segments: Strategic Advisory (M&A, capital markets advisory), Restructuring & Special Situations (financial restructuring advisory for debtors and creditors), and Park Hill (private fund placement and secondary advisory). Park Hill is a rapidly growing business that advises private equity firms, hedge funds, and other alternative asset managers on raising capital from institutional investors; Park Hill has grown into one of the leading placement agents in private markets. PJT has positioned itself as a premier boutique serving the most complex strategic transactions. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Lazard's Financial Advisory revenue (M&A cycles), Asset Management AUM and fees, restructuring revenue (counter-cyclical), dividend and capital return policy, and the performance of its unique sovereign advisory practice. | Investors track PJT's Strategic Advisory revenue (M&A cycle), Restructuring revenue (counter-cyclical), Park Hill placement fee growth (PE fundraising cycle), and the firm's overall growth trajectory as a relatively young boutique. |
- Global brand and 175-year history attract premier mandates that younger boutiques cannot access — Lazard's history, global relationships, and prestigious reputation attract top-tier mandates from governments, major corporations, and boards seeking the most recognized independent advisors; brand heritage is a genuine differentiator in certain client segments
- Sovereign debt restructuring practice is unique and exceptionally defensible — Lazard's sovereign practice (advising countries restructuring government debt) is one of a kind; Lazard has participated in virtually every significant sovereign debt restructuring of the past 30+ years; the expertise and relationships required to advise governments on this are essentially impossible to replicate quickly
- Asset management business provides revenue diversification from M&A advisory cyclicality — Lazard's $200B+ AUM asset management business generates management fees that are more stable than transaction-dependent advisory fees; this diversification provides earnings stability through M&A downturns
- Park Hill provides a rapidly growing third revenue stream tied to private equity fundraising — as PE assets under management have grown to trillions globally, the need for placement agents (who help PE firms raise capital from institutional investors) has grown; Park Hill is among the leaders in this space, earning placement fees on billions of PE fundraisings annually
- Pure restructuring/special situations focus is a genuine differentiator in complexity — PJT's restructuring team (inherited from Blackstone Advisory) is one of the most respected in the industry; complex distressed situations, cross-border restructurings, and contested creditor negotiations require specialized skills that PJT has built
- Paul Taubman's personal brand and relationships provide access to premier mandates — Taubman (former Morgan Stanley co-president) has top-tier relationships with corporate boards, private equity executives, and sovereign wealth funds; PJT's reputation has grown quickly largely on the strength of Taubman's franchise and his recruitment of senior bankers
- Asset management performance affects AUM and fees — if Lazard's investment strategies underperform benchmarks, clients may redeem assets, reducing AUM and fee income; investment management is competitive and Lazard faces performance pressure
- Governance and compensation structure has been criticized — Lazard historically paid very high compensation as a percentage of revenue; managing director compensation at Lazard has consumed a large fraction of advisory revenue, limiting margins; the compensation culture (a legacy of the partnership model) compresses profitability
- M&A market cyclicality affects the majority of Financial Advisory revenue — Lazard's Financial Advisory revenue is correlated with deal volumes; in M&A downturns, restructuring partially offsets but may not fully compensate for advisory revenue declines
- Younger firm without 150-year brand may lose to established names for certain prestige mandates — Lazard and Evercore have decades more brand recognition; for certain board mandates (especially at traditional large-cap corporations), the established names may still be preferred
- Park Hill revenue is tied to PE fundraising cycles — PE fundraising is highly cyclical; when PE markets face difficulty raising capital (as in 2022-2023 when LP capital was diverted to public market opportunities), Park Hill revenues can decline; Park Hill growth has been extraordinary but may moderate
- Growth depends on continued senior banker hiring to expand coverage — PJT is a growth company that must continuously recruit senior MDs to expand its coverage; every major boutique is competing for the same pool of senior advisory talent
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