W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) and Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.
Risk and Volatility
W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stewart Information Services has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares W.R. Berkley and Stewart Information Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| W.R. Berkley | $14.71 billion | 1.74 | $1.78 billion | $4.72 | 14.55 |
| Stewart Information Services | $2.92 billion | 0.68 | $115.54 million | $4.48 | 14.67 |
W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than Stewart Information Services. W.R. Berkley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stewart Information Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
W.R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. W.R. Berkley pays out 7.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stewart Information Services pays out 46.9% 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. W.R. Berkley has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Stewart Information Services has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by institutional investors. 23.3% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for W.R. Berkley and Stewart Information Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| W.R. Berkley | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1.94 |
| Stewart Information Services | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus price target of $68.81, suggesting a potential upside of 0.17%. Stewart Information Services has a consensus price target of $83.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.31%. Given Stewart Information Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Stewart Information Services is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.
Profitability
This table compares W.R. Berkley and Stewart Information Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| W.R. Berkley | 12.64% | 18.92% | 4.18% |
| Stewart Information Services | 4.19% | 10.07% | 5.17% |
Summary
W.R. Berkley beats Stewart Information Services on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About W.R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.
About Stewart Information Services
Stewart Information Services Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides title insurance and real estate transaction related services in the United States and internationally. The company involves in searching, examining, closing, and insuring the condition of the title to real property. It also offers home and personal insurance services; services for tax-deferred exchanges; and digital customer engagement platform services. It also provides appraisal management, online notarization and closing, credit and real estate information, and search and valuation services. The company serves homebuyers and sellers, residential and commercial real estate professionals, mortgage lenders and servicers, title agencies and real estate attorneys, and home builders through direct operations, network of independent agencies, and other businesses. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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