Financial Comparison: Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) versus Octave Specialty Group (NYSE:OSG)

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and Octave Specialty Group (NYSE:OSG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Investors Title has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Octave Specialty Group has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Investors Title and Octave Specialty Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Investors Title	$293.47 million	1.73	$35.18 million	$21.35	12.59
Octave Specialty Group	$251.22 million	0.90	-$261.69 million	($3.65)	-1.38

Investors Title has higher revenue and earnings than Octave Specialty Group. Octave Specialty Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Investors Title, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Investors Title and Octave Specialty Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00
Octave Specialty Group	2	1	2	0	2.00

Octave Specialty Group has a consensus target price of $11.50, suggesting a potential upside of 128.17%. Given Octave Specialty Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Octave Specialty Group is more favorable than Investors Title.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.9% of Octave Specialty Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.0% of Investors Title shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of Octave Specialty Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Investors Title and Octave Specialty Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investors Title	13.80%	14.62%	11.02%
Octave Specialty Group	-51.10%	0.44%	0.17%

Summary

Investors Title beats Octave Specialty Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies. It offers services in connection with tax-deferred exchanges of like-kind property; acts as a qualified intermediary in tax-deferred exchanges of property; coordinates the exchange aspects of the real estate transaction, such as drafting standard exchange documents, holding the exchange funds between the sale of the old property and the purchase of the new property, and accepting the formal identification of the replacement property. In addition, it serves as an exchange accommodation titleholder for accomplishing reverse exchanges when the taxpayers decide to acquire replacement property before selling the relinquished property. Further, the company offers investment management and trust services to individuals, companies, banks, and trusts; and consulting and management services to clients to start and operate a title insurance agency. It issues title insurance policies directly and through a network of agents in 22 states and the District of Columbia, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. Investors Title Company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

About Octave Specialty Group

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. operates as a financial services holding company. It operates three businesses: Specialty Property and Casualty Insurance, Insurance Distribution, and Legacy Financial Guarantee (LFG) Insurance. The Specialty Property and Casualty Insurance business provides specialty property and casualty program insurance with a focus commercial and personal liability risks. The Insurance Distribution business includes the specialty property and casualty insurance distribution business, which includes managing general agents and underwriters, insurance wholesalers, brokers, and other distribution businesses. The LFG Insurance business offers financial guarantee insurance policies that provide an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee, which protects the holder of a debt obligation against non-payment when due of the principal and interest on the obligations guaranteed. Ambac Financial Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in New York, New York.