Head-To-Head Review: RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) vs. Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC)

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) and Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

100.0% of RenaissanceRe shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of RenaissanceRe shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares RenaissanceRe and Stewart Information Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RenaissanceRe	$12.85 billion	0.98	$2.68 billion	$59.99	4.93
Stewart Information Services	$2.92 billion	0.71	$115.54 million	$4.48	15.11

RenaissanceRe has higher revenue and earnings than Stewart Information Services. RenaissanceRe is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stewart Information Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for RenaissanceRe and Stewart Information Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RenaissanceRe	1	12	4	0	2.18
Stewart Information Services	0	0	4	0	3.00

RenaissanceRe currently has a consensus price target of $322.93, suggesting a potential upside of 9.27%. Stewart Information Services has a consensus price target of $83.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.59%. Given Stewart Information Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Stewart Information Services is more favorable than RenaissanceRe.

Dividends

RenaissanceRe pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. RenaissanceRe pays out 2.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stewart Information Services pays out 46.9% 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. RenaissanceRe has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Stewart Information Services has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares RenaissanceRe and Stewart Information Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RenaissanceRe	24.25%	24.01%	4.70%
Stewart Information Services	4.19%	10.07%	5.17%

Volatility and Risk

RenaissanceRe has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stewart Information Services has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

RenaissanceRe beats Stewart Information Services on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RenaissanceRe

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Property, and Casualty and Specialty segments. The Property segment writes property catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance and excess of loss reinsurance to insure insurance and reinsurance companies against natural and man-made catastrophes, including hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis, as well as winter storms, freezes, floods, fires, windstorms, tornadoes, explosions, and acts of terrorism; and other property class of products, such as proportional reinsurance, property per risk, property reinsurance, binding facilities, and regional U.S. multi-line reinsurance. The Casualty and Specialty segment writes various classes of products, such as directors and officers, medical malpractice, and professional indemnity; automobile and employer’s liability, casualty clash, umbrella or excess casualty, workers’ compensation, and general liability; financial and mortgage guaranty, political risk, surety, and trade credit; and accident and health, agriculture, aviation, cyber, energy, marine, satellite, and terrorism. It distributes products and services primarily through intermediaries. The company invests in and manages funds. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.

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.