Head to Head Survey: Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW)

Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) and Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

82.9% of Selective Insurance Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Selective Insurance Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Bowhead Specialty and Selective Insurance Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bowhead Specialty	0	2	4	0	2.67
Selective Insurance Group	1	5	1	0	2.00

Bowhead Specialty presently has a consensus price target of $39.67, indicating a potential upside of 7.91%. Selective Insurance Group has a consensus price target of $94.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.39%. Given Bowhead Specialty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Bowhead Specialty is more favorable than Selective Insurance Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bowhead Specialty and Selective Insurance Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bowhead Specialty	$457.72 million	2.62	$42.79 million	$1.31	28.06
Selective Insurance Group	$4.98 billion	1.07	$207.01 million	$3.67	23.85

Selective Insurance Group has higher revenue and earnings than Bowhead Specialty. Selective Insurance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bowhead Specialty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Bowhead Specialty and Selective Insurance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bowhead Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A
Selective Insurance Group	4.26%	7.33%	1.62%

Summary

Selective Insurance Group beats Bowhead Specialty on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bowhead Specialty

Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It underwrites casualty insurance solutions for risks in the construction, distribution, heavy manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality segments; professional liability insurance solutions for financial institutions, private and public directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions liability insurance, and cyber segments; and healthcare solutions for hospitals, senior care providers, managed care organizations, miscellaneous medical facilities, and healthcare management liability segments. The company distributes its products through distribution partners in wholesale and retail markets. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. was formerly known as Bowhead Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. in March 2024. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bowhead Insurance Holdings LP.

About Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Standard Commercial Lines, Standard Personal Lines, E&S Lines, and Investments. It offers casualty insurance products that covers the financial consequences of employee injuries in the course of employment and bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party; property insurance products, which covers the accidental loss of an insured's real property, personal property, and/or earnings due to the property's loss; and flood insurance products. The company also invests in fixed income investments and commercial mortgage loans, as well as equity securities, short-term investments, and alternative investments, and other investments. It offers its insurance products and services to businesses, non-profit organizations, local government agencies, and individuals through independent retail agents and wholesale general agents. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey.