Head to Head Review: Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) versus Sampo (OTCMKTS:SAXPY)

Sampo (OTCMKTS:SAXPY) and Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Sampo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.4% of Investors Title shares are held by institutional investors. 26.4% of Investors Title shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Sampo pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Investors Title pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Sampo pays out 22.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Investors Title pays out 9.7% 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.

Volatility and Risk

Sampo has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Investors Title has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sampo and Investors Title’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sampo	N/A	19.63%	5.56%
Investors Title	12.28%	12.70%	9.71%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sampo and Investors Title”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sampo	$2.47 billion	50.24	$1.25 billion	$1.39	16.58
Investors Title	$273.87 million	1.96	$31.07 million	$19.01	14.97

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Sampo and Investors Title, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sampo	0	1	0	1	3.00
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00

Summary

Investors Title beats Sampo on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sampo

Sampo Oyj, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of non-life insurance products and services in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and the United Kingdom. The company operates through If, Topdanmark, Hastings, Mandatum, and Holding segments. It offers property, casualty, liability, accident, sickness, household, homeowner, motor, travel, marine, aviation, transport, forest, livestock, health, workers compensation, car, van, and bike insurance services, as well as reinsurance services. The company was founded in 1909 and is based in Helsinki, Finland.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies. It offers services in connection with tax-deferred exchanges of like-kind property; acts as a qualified intermediary in tax-deferred exchanges of property; coordinates the exchange aspects of the real estate transaction, such as drafting standard exchange documents, holding the exchange funds between the sale of the old property and the purchase of the new property, and accepting the formal identification of the replacement property. In addition, it serves as an exchange accommodation titleholder for accomplishing reverse exchanges when the taxpayers decide to acquire replacement property before selling the relinquished property. Further, the company offers investment management and trust services to individuals, companies, banks, and trusts; and consulting and management services to clients to start and operate a title insurance agency. It issues title insurance policies directly and through a network of agents in 22 states and the District of Columbia, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. Investors Title Company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.