Octave Specialty Group (NYSE:OSG) vs. American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) Head-To-Head Review

Octave Specialty Group (NYSE:OSG) and American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.9% of Octave Specialty Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of American Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 9.3% of Octave Specialty Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of American Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Octave Specialty Group has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Financial Group has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Octave Specialty Group and American Financial Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Octave Specialty Group	$251.22 million	0.93	-$556.45 million	($5.95)	-0.90
American Financial Group	$8.17 billion	1.36	$842.00 million	$10.07	13.21

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Octave Specialty Group	-104.17%	-2.87%	-0.52%
American Financial Group	10.30%	18.92%	2.72%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Octave Specialty Group and American Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Octave Specialty Group	1	1	1	0	2.00
American Financial Group	0	4	1	0	2.20

Octave Specialty Group currently has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 181.64%. American Financial Group has a consensus price target of $141.25, indicating a potential upside of 6.17%. Given Octave Specialty Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Octave Specialty Group is more favorable than American Financial Group.

Summary

American Financial Group beats Octave Specialty Group on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company offers property and transportation insurance products, such as physical damage and liability coverage for buses and trucks, inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related products, and other commercial property and specialty transportation coverages; specialty casualty insurance, including primarily excess and surplus, executive and professional liability, general liability, umbrella and excess liability, and specialty coverage in targeted markets, as well as customized programs for small to mid-sized businesses and workers’ compensation insurance; and specialty financial insurance products comprising risk management insurance programs for lending and leasing institutions, fidelity and surety products, and trade credit insurance. It sells its property and casualty insurance products through independent insurance agents and brokers. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.