Head to Head Review: NI (NASDAQ:NODK) vs. Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC)

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and NI (NASDAQ:NODK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investors Title	12.90%	13.19%	10.01%
NI	-3.65%	-4.24%	-1.90%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Investors Title and NI, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00
NI	1	0	0	0	1.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.9% of NI shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of NI shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Investors Title and NI”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Investors Title	$272.76 million	1.87	$35.18 million	$18.57	12.61
NI	$285.05 million	0.93	-$10.41 million	($0.49)	-26.45

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

Volatility and Risk

Investors Title has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NI has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Investors Title beats NI on 12 of the 13 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 NI

NI Holdings, Inc. underwrites property and casualty insurance products in the United States. Its products include private passenger auto, non-standard automobile, homeowners, farm owners, crop hail and multi-peril crop, and liability insurance policies. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. NI Holdings, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Nodak Mutual Group, Inc.