Critical Comparison: eHealth (NASDAQ:EHTH) versus Tiptree Financial (NASDAQ:TIPT)

eHealth (NASDAQ:EHTH) and Tiptree Financial (NASDAQ:TIPT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares eHealth and Tiptree Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
eHealth	$532.41 million	0.24	$10.06 million	($0.63)	-6.62
Tiptree Financial	$2.04 billion	0.34	$53.37 million	$1.26	14.89

Tiptree Financial has higher revenue and earnings than eHealth. eHealth is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tiptree Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares eHealth and Tiptree Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
eHealth	6.10%	2.85%	1.45%
Tiptree Financial	2.77%	13.90%	1.63%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.5% of eHealth shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.8% of Tiptree Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of eHealth shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 31.8% of Tiptree Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

eHealth has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tiptree Financial has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for eHealth and Tiptree Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
eHealth	0	2	1	0	2.33
Tiptree Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

eHealth presently has a consensus target price of $7.67, suggesting a potential upside of 83.85%. Given eHealth’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe eHealth is more favorable than Tiptree Financial.

Summary

Tiptree Financial beats eHealth on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About eHealth

eHealth, Inc. operates a health insurance marketplace that provides consumer engagement, education, and health insurance enrollment solutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Medicare; and Employer and Individual. The Medicare segment offers sale of Medicare-related health insurance plans, which includes Medicare advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to Medicare-eligible customers including but not limited to, dental, and vision insurance, as well as advertising program for marketing and other services. The Employer and Individual segment engages in the sale of individual, family, and small business health insurance plans; and ancillary products to non-Medicare-eligible customers including but not limited to, dental, vision, and short and long term disability insurance. In addition, the company provides ecommerce platforms and consumer engagement solutions, which includes market leading information, decision support, customer engagement, and transactional services to group of health insurance consumers; and organize and present the insurance information in objective format to individuals, families, and small businesses to research, analyze, compare and purchase health insurance plans. Further, it markets health insurance plans through its websites, including eHealth.com, eHealthInsurance.com, eHealthMedicare.com, Medicare.com, PlanPrescriber.com, and GoMedigap.com. The company also offers online sponsorship and advertising, non-broker of record, lead referral, technology licensing, as well as performs various post-enrollment services for members in Medicare health insurance plans. eHealth, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Tiptree Financial

Tiptree Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance products and related services primarily in the United States. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Mortgage. The company offers niche; commercial lines insurance products, including professional liability, general liability, contractual liability protection, property and other short-tail, and alternative risks insurance products; and personal lines insurance products, such as credit protection surrounding loan payments. It also provides auto and consumer warranty programs, including mobile devices, consumer electronics, appliances, furniture; and vehicle service contracts, GAP, and ancillary products; as well as premium or warranty contract financing services, lead generation support, and business process outsourcing services. In addition, the company offers mortgage loans for institutional investors; asset management services; and maritime shipping and asset management services, as well as invests in shares. It markets its products through a network of independent insurance agents, consumer finance companies, online retailers, auto dealers, and regional big box retailers. The company was formerly known as Tiptree Financial Inc. and changed its name to Tiptree Inc. in December 2016. Tiptree Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.