Analyzing Crawford & Company (CRD.A) & Its Competitors

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.A) is one of 58 public companies in the “BUSINESS SVCS” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Crawford & Company to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Crawford & Company and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	1.50%	26.21%	5.74%
Crawford & Company Competitors	4.64%	45.23%	6.88%

Volatility & Risk

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crawford & Company’s peers have a beta of 2.88, suggesting that their average share price is 188% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Crawford & Company pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Crawford & Company pays out 75.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “BUSINESS SVCS” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.5% and pay out -64.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Crawford & Company and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.31 billion	$19.63 million	27.25
Crawford & Company Competitors	$4.46 billion	$154.41 million	-8.50

Crawford & Company’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Crawford & Company. Crawford & Company is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.6% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.3% of shares of all “BUSINESS SVCS” companies are owned by institutional investors. 55.3% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of shares of all “BUSINESS SVCS” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Crawford & Company and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	0	0	1	0	3.00
Crawford & Company Competitors	307	1284	1996	107	2.52

Crawford & Company presently has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 28.45%. As a group, “BUSINESS SVCS” companies have a potential upside of 20.52%. Given Crawford & Company’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Crawford & Company is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

Crawford & Company peers beat Crawford & Company on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Crawford & Company Company Profile

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.