Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC – Get Free Report) and W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Stewart Information Services and W.R. Berkley”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Stewart Information Services | $2.92 billion | 0.68 | $115.54 million | $4.48 | 14.67 |
| W.R. Berkley | $14.71 billion | 1.74 | $1.78 billion | $4.72 | 14.55 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.3% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility and Risk
Stewart Information Services has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Stewart Information Services and W.R. Berkley’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Stewart Information Services | 4.19% | 10.07% | 5.17% |
| W.R. Berkley | 12.64% | 18.92% | 4.18% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Stewart Information Services and W.R. Berkley, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Stewart Information Services | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
| W.R. Berkley | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1.94 |
Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus price target of $83.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.31%. W.R. Berkley has a consensus price target of $68.81, suggesting a potential upside of 0.17%. Given Stewart Information Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Stewart Information Services is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.
Dividends
Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. W.R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Stewart Information Services pays out 46.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W.R. Berkley pays out 7.6% 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 increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and W.R. Berkley has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years.
Summary
W.R. Berkley beats Stewart Information Services on 9 of the 17 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 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.
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.
