Reviewing Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) & Hagerty (NYSE:HGTY)

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) and Hagerty (NYSE:HGTY) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and profitability.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	1.55%	22.34%	4.18%
Hagerty	5.27%	12.06%	3.26%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.0% of Crawford & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.5% of Hagerty shares are held by institutional investors. 51.0% of Crawford & Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.9% of Hagerty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Crawford & Company and Hagerty, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	0	0	0	0	0.00
Hagerty	1	2	0	0	1.67

Hagerty has a consensus price target of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.63%. Given Hagerty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hagerty is more favorable than Crawford & Company.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Crawford & Company and Hagerty”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.35 billion	0.37	$30.61 million	$0.60	16.69
Hagerty	$1.25 billion	2.75	$20.23 million	$0.20	50.18

Crawford & Company has higher revenue and earnings than Hagerty. Crawford & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hagerty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hagerty has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hagerty beats Crawford & Company on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crawford & Company

Crawford & Co. engages in the provision of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers, and corporates. It operates through the following segments: Crawford Loss Adjusting, Crawford TPA Solutions, and Crawford Platform Solutions. The Crawford Loss Adjusting segment consists of adjusting services provided to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property and casualty losses caused by physical damage to commercial and residential real property and certain types of personal property. The Crawford TPA Solutions segment provides third party administration for workers’ compensation, auto and liability, disability absence management, medical management, and accident and health to corporations, brokers, and insurers worldwide. The Crawford Platform Solutions segment is involved in the management of contractor networks and the provision of claims management services to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property, casualty, and catastrophic losses. The company was founded by Jim Crawford in 1941 and is headquartered in Peachtree Corners, GA.

About Hagerty

Hagerty, Inc. provides insurance agency services worldwide. It offers motor vehicle and boat insurance products; and reinsurance products. The company provides Hagerty Media, which publishes contents through the Hagerty Drivers Club Magazine (HDC), video content, and social media channels; HDC that offers subscription based products and services, including HDC Magazine, automotive enthusiast events, proprietary vehicle valuation tools, emergency roadside services, and special vehicle-related discounts. In addition, it offers HVT, a valuation tool used by the customer to access current and historic pricing data of collector vehicle models. Further, the company offers Hagerty Garage + Social, a platform that provides clubhouses and car storage facilities. Hagerty, Inc. is headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan.