NMI (NASDAQ:NMIH – Get Free Report) and W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
94.1% of NMI shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of NMI shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.0% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares NMI and W.R. Berkley’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| NMI | 55.05% | 15.78% | 10.64% |
| W.R. Berkley | 12.10% | 18.17% | 3.99% |
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| NMI | $706.44 million | 4.02 | $388.93 million | $4.91 | 7.60 |
| W.R. Berkley | $14.71 billion | 1.75 | $1.78 billion | $4.45 | 15.44 |
W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than NMI. NMI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.R. Berkley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for NMI and W.R. Berkley, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| NMI | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
| W.R. Berkley | 4 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2.00 |
NMI presently has a consensus price target of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.25%. W.R. Berkley has a consensus price target of $69.67, suggesting a potential upside of 1.36%. Given NMI’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NMI is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.
Risk and Volatility
NMI has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
NMI beats W.R. Berkley on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About NMI
NMI Holdings, Inc. provides private mortgage guaranty insurance services in the United States. The company offers mortgage insurance services, such as primary and pool insurance; and outsourced loan review services to mortgage loan originators. It serves national and regional mortgage banks, money center banks, credit unions, community banks, builder-owned mortgage lenders, internet-sourced lenders, and other non-bank lenders. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.
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 NMI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NMI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
