Comparing Old Republic International (ORI) & Its Rivals

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) is one of 311 public companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Old Republic International to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Old Republic International has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Republic International’s competitors have a beta of -1.51, suggesting that their average stock price is 251% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.9% of Old Republic International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Old Republic International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Old Republic International pays out 28.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 30.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Republic International has raised its dividend for 45 consecutive years. Old Republic International is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Old Republic International and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Republic International	11.19%	12.13%	2.36%
Old Republic International Competitors	9.36%	-9.77%	4.23%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Old Republic International and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Republic International	$9.14 billion	$935.40 million	8.72
Old Republic International Competitors	$15.61 billion	$1.70 billion	34.57

Old Republic International’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Old Republic International. Old Republic International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Old Republic International and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Republic International	0	2	2	0	2.50
Old Republic International Competitors	3319	15605	16438	736	2.40

Old Republic International presently has a consensus price target of $43.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.33%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 5.99%. Given Old Republic International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Old Republic International is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Old Republic International beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Old Republic International

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business. The General Insurance segment offers aviation, commercial auto, commercial multi-peril, commercial property, general liability, home and auto warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers' compensation insurance products; and financial indemnity products for specialty coverages, including errors and omissions, fidelity, directors and officers, and surety. This segment provides its insurance products to businesses, state and local government, and other institutions in transportation, commercial construction, healthcare, education, retail and wholesale trade, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries. The Title Insurance segment offers lenders' and owners' policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records. This segment also provides escrow closing and construction disbursement services; and real estate information products, national default management services, and various other services pertaining to real estate transfers and loan transactions. The Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business segment offers private mortgage insurance coverage that protects mortgage lenders and investors from default related losses on residential mortgage loans made primarily to homebuyers. Old Republic International Corporation was founded in 1923 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.