Head-To-Head Contrast: Tiptree Financial (NASDAQ:TIPT) versus Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.A)

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.A) and Tiptree Financial (NASDAQ:TIPT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Crawford & Company and Tiptree Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.30 billion	0.46	$19.63 million	$0.47	26.44
Tiptree Financial	-$3.14 million	-197.06	$34.93 million	$10.81	1.54

Tiptree Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Crawford & Company. Tiptree Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Crawford & Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tiptree Financial has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Crawford & Company pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Tiptree Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Crawford & Company pays out 68.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Tiptree Financial pays out 2.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Tiptree Financial has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Crawford & Company and Tiptree Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	0	0	1	0	3.00
Tiptree Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00

Crawford & Company currently has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.68%. Given Crawford & Company’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Crawford & Company is more favorable than Tiptree Financial.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

22.5% of Crawford & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.8% of Tiptree Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 54.3% of Crawford & Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 31.9% of Tiptree Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Crawford & Company and Tiptree Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	1.81%	28.15%	6.51%
Tiptree Financial	N/A	0.75%	0.11%

Summary

Crawford & Company beats Tiptree Financial on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crawford & Company

Crawford & Company provides claims management and outsourcing solutions to the risk management and insurance industry, and self-insured entities. The company's Crawford Claims Solutions segment offers claims management services related to property, casualty, and catastrophe losses caused by physical damage to commercial and residential real properties, and personal properties, as well as marine losses. It also offers services in the areas of field investigation, catastrophe, evaluation, and resolution of property and casualty insurance claims; and various on-demand inspection, verification, and other task specific field services for businesses and consumers through a mobile platform. Its Crawford TPA Solutions segment provides claims and risk management services; desktop claim adjusting and claims evaluation services; initial loss reporting services for claimants; loss mitigation services, such as medical bill review and case management, and vocational rehabilitation services; and risk management information services, as well as administers trust funds established to pay claims. It offers services for workers' compensation, auto and liability, disability absence and medical management, and accident and health markets. The company's Crawford Specialty Solutions segment offers claims management services related to large and complex losses in various industries, such as commercial property, aviation, forensic accounting, marine and transportation, retail, building and construction, cyber, and energy. It also provides a customer-centric solution for various loss types comprising high-frequency and low-complexity claims, and large complex repairs; and outsourced contractor management services to personal and commercial insurance carriers, and consumer markets. The company operates in the United States, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. Crawford & Company was founded in 1941 and is based in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

About Tiptree Financial

Tiptree Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance products and related services primarily in the United States. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Mortgage. The company offers niche; commercial lines insurance products, including professional liability, general liability, contractual liability protection, property and other short-tail, and alternative risks insurance products; and personal lines insurance products, such as credit protection surrounding loan payments. It also provides auto and consumer warranty programs, including mobile devices, consumer electronics, appliances, furniture; and vehicle service contracts, GAP, and ancillary products; as well as premium or warranty contract financing services, lead generation support, and business process outsourcing services. In addition, the company offers mortgage loans for institutional investors; asset management services; and maritime shipping and asset management services, as well as invests in shares. It markets its products through a network of independent insurance agents, consumer finance companies, online retailers, auto dealers, and regional big box retailers. The company was formerly known as Tiptree Financial Inc. and changed its name to Tiptree Inc. in December 2016. Tiptree Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.