Lazard Ltd., one of the world's leading financial advisory and asset management firms, provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals.

Stocks are solidly higher Friday morning, led by good earnings from various companies (with Amazon and Intel leading the charge) as well as a jobs report that is being broadly interpreted as meaning that Fed will indeed cut interest rates further next week. Traders may finally be starting to look ahead, positioning themselves for a world in which the name of the next U.S. president will be known, the economy will remain on solid footing, interest rates will continue to head lower, and inflation will finally hit the magic 2% level.

Lazard has a storied history that can be traced back to 1848. The company's revenue is nearly equally split between financial advisory, such as acquisition and restructuring advisory, and asset management. The company's asset management business is primarily equities (over 80% of assets under management), has an international focus, and is geared toward institutional clients. By geography, the company earns approximately 60% of revenue in the Americas, 35% in EMEA, and 5% in Asia-Pacific. Lazard has offices across more than 20 countries and over 3,000 employees.

Value stocks -- a market segment that includes high-yield stocks - is the place to achieve income. The recent yield on the iShares Russell 1000 Value Index ETF was 1.8%, compared to the 0.4% current yield on the iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index ETF. Growth stocks have a history of outperforming value stocks, but value has had its day. Value outperformed growth stocks in 2022. That's a recent rarity, as for more than a decade, the performance record favored growth. Since 2010, the Russell 1000 Growth Index has climbed more than 575%, compared to an advance of almost 200% for the Russell 1000 Value Index. In 10 of the past 13 years, growth stocks have topped value stocks. That hasn't always been the case. In the 2000-2010 decade, including the Great Recession, value stocks were better performers than growth stocks, advancing an admittedly low 8% (but still better than growth, which declined 15% during the decade). Value investors trace their roots to the famous "Security Analysis" textbook, written by Ben Graham, an economics professor at Columbia University. Warren Buffett was one of his students. Why the recent deviation in performance? Several reasons, including changes in the make-up of the economy, growth in intangible assets, and the current level of interest rates. The tide turned back in 2022, at least for a while, as the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines gave a lift to some of the cyclical companies (energy and regional banks) that had lagged in recent years. For our list this week, we have screened our coverage universe for stocks that are BUY-rated by Argus Research analysts, have an Argus Financial Strength Rating of at least Medium, and have a yield of 3.0% or higher. These stocks are also featured in our High-Yield Theme Model Portfolio.