Comparing PICC Property and Casualty (OTCMKTS:PPCCY) and Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR)

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) and PICC Property and Casualty (OTCMKTS:PPCCY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Palomar and PICC Property and Casualty, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Palomar	0	2	4	0	2.67
PICC Property and Casualty	0	0	0	0	0.00

Palomar presently has a consensus price target of $162.75, suggesting a potential upside of 25.11%. Given Palomar’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Palomar is more favorable than PICC Property and Casualty.

Profitability

This table compares Palomar and PICC Property and Casualty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Palomar	18.61%	23.28%	6.45%
PICC Property and Casualty	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.2% of Palomar shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Palomar shares are owned by 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.

Dividends

Palomar pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. PICC Property and Casualty pays an annual dividend of $9.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 19.2%. Palomar pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PICC Property and Casualty pays out 49.9% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Palomar and PICC Property and Casualty”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Palomar	$875.97 million	3.91	$197.07 million	$7.44	17.49
PICC Property and Casualty	N/A	N/A	N/A	$19.70	2.60

Palomar has higher revenue and earnings than PICC Property and Casualty. PICC Property and Casualty is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palomar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Palomar beats PICC Property and Casualty on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc., a specialty insurance company, provides property and casualty insurance to residential and businesses in the United States. The company offers personal and commercial specialty property insurance products, including residential and commercial earthquake, fronting, commercial all risk, specialty homeowners, inland marine, Hawaii hurricane, and residential flood, as well as other products, such as assumed reinsurance. It markets and distributes its products through retail agents, wholesale brokers, program administrators, and carrier partnerships. The company was formerly known as GC Palomar Holdings and changed its name to Palomar Holdings, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.

About PICC Property and Casualty

PICC Property and Casualty Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a property and casualty insurance company in the People's Republic of China. It operates through Motor Vehicle, Accidental Injury and Health, Agriculture, Liability, Commercial Property, and Others segments. The company offers accidental injury and medical expenses, short-term health, homeowners, special risk, marine hull, construction, household property, cargo, credit and surety, accidental injury, and other insurance products. It also provides reinsurance, investment and funds application, insurance and claim handling agency, training, information technology and business, and property management services. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Beijing, China. PICC Property and Casualty Company Limited operates as a subsidiary of The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited.