Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI – Get Free Report) and Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.A – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Old Republic International and Crawford & Company”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Old Republic International | $9.72 billion | 0.95 | $935.40 million | $4.23 | 8.99 |
| Crawford & Company | $1.30 billion | 0.47 | $19.63 million | $0.47 | 26.96 |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
70.9% of Old Republic International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.5% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Old Republic International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 54.3% of Crawford & Company shares are owned 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 Old Republic International and Crawford & Company’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Old Republic International | 11.71% | 15.41% | 3.10% |
| Crawford & Company | 1.81% | 28.15% | 6.51% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations for Old Republic International and Crawford & Company, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Old Republic International | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Crawford & Company | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Old Republic International presently has a consensus target price of $41.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.08%. Crawford & Company has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.50%. Given Crawford & Company’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Crawford & Company is more favorable than Old Republic International.
Dividends
Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Crawford & Company pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Old Republic International pays out 29.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Crawford & Company pays out 68.1% 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. Old Republic International has raised its dividend for 45 consecutive years. Old Republic International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Risk & Volatility
Old Republic International has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Old Republic International beats Crawford & Company on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Old Republic International
Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business. The General Insurance segment offers aviation, commercial auto, commercial multi-peril, commercial property, general liability, home and auto warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers' compensation insurance products; and financial indemnity products for specialty coverages, including errors and omissions, fidelity, directors and officers, and surety. This segment provides its insurance products to businesses, state and local government, and other institutions in transportation, commercial construction, healthcare, education, retail and wholesale trade, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries. The Title Insurance segment offers lenders' and owners' policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records. This segment also provides escrow closing and construction disbursement services; and real estate information products, national default management services, and various other services pertaining to real estate transfers and loan transactions. The Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business segment offers private mortgage insurance coverage that protects mortgage lenders and investors from default related losses on residential mortgage loans made primarily to homebuyers. Old Republic International Corporation was founded in 1923 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
About Crawford & Company
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.
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