Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC – Get Free Report) and Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA – 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 analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.
Dividends
Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Reinsurance Group of America pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Stewart Information Services pays out 48.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Reinsurance Group of America pays out 17.2% 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. Stewart Information Services has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Reinsurance Group of America has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Stewart Information Services and Reinsurance Group of America”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Stewart Information Services | $2.92 billion | 0.52 | $115.54 million | $4.56 | 10.84 |
| Reinsurance Group of America | $23.70 billion | 0.75 | $1.18 billion | $22.77 | 11.95 |
Reinsurance Group of America has higher revenue and earnings than Stewart Information Services. Stewart Information Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Reinsurance Group of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Stewart Information Services and Reinsurance Group of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Stewart Information Services | 3.58% | 9.42% | 4.79% |
| Reinsurance Group of America | 5.81% | 14.78% | 1.24% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.1% of Reinsurance Group of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Reinsurance Group of America shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Stewart Information Services has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Reinsurance Group of America has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Stewart Information Services and Reinsurance Group of America, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Stewart Information Services | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Reinsurance Group of America | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3.00 |
Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus target price of $80.25, suggesting a potential upside of 62.41%. Reinsurance Group of America has a consensus target price of $270.00, suggesting a potential downside of 0.75%. Given Stewart Information Services’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Stewart Information Services is more favorable than Reinsurance Group of America.
Summary
Reinsurance Group of America beats Stewart Information Services on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Reinsurance Group of America
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated engages in reinsurance business. The company offers individual and group life and health insurance products, such as term life, credit life, universal life, whole life, group life and health, joint and last survivor insurance, critical illness, disability, and longevity products; asset-intensive and financial reinsurance products; and other capital motivated solutions. It also provides reinsurance for mortality, morbidity, lapse, and investment-related risk associated with products; and reinsurance for investment-related risks. In addition, the company develops and markets technology solutions; and provides consulting and outsourcing solutions for the insurance and reinsurance industries. It operates in the United States, Latin America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri.
Receive News & Ratings for Stewart Information Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stewart Information Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
