W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) and Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for W.R. Berkley and Ryan Specialty, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| W.R. Berkley | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1.83 |
| Ryan Specialty | 1 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2.37 |
W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus price target of $70.83, suggesting a potential upside of 4.85%. Ryan Specialty has a consensus price target of $52.97, suggesting a potential upside of 43.04%. Given Ryan Specialty’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ryan Specialty is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| W.R. Berkley | $14.92 billion | 1.68 | $1.78 billion | $4.87 | 13.87 |
| Ryan Specialty | $3.22 billion | 2.94 | $63.40 million | $0.72 | 51.43 |
W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than Ryan Specialty. W.R. Berkley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ryan Specialty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ryan Specialty has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
W.R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Ryan Specialty pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. W.R. Berkley pays out 8.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ryan Specialty pays out 72.2% 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. W.R. Berkley has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Ryan Specialty has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Ryan Specialty shares are held by institutional investors. 25.1% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 52.0% of Ryan Specialty 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 W.R. Berkley and Ryan Specialty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| W.R. Berkley | 12.94% | 19.44% | 4.28% |
| Ryan Specialty | 7.55% | 43.97% | 4.78% |
Summary
Ryan Specialty beats W.R. Berkley on 11 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 Ryan Specialty
Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. operates as a service provider of specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Singapore. It offers distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter. The company serves commercial, industrial, institutional, and government sectors. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
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