Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) and Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) Head to Head Analysis

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) and Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Travelers Companies and Investors Title”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Travelers Companies	$46.42 billion	1.29	$5.00 billion	$22.61	11.75
Investors Title	$258.30 million	1.74	$31.07 million	$17.48	13.60

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Travelers Companies	10.97%	18.68%	3.90%
Investors Title	12.28%	12.70%	9.71%

Dividends

Travelers Companies pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Investors Title pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Travelers Companies pays out 19.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Investors Title pays out 10.5% 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. Travelers Companies has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Travelers Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Travelers Companies has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Investors Title has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.5% of Travelers Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.4% of Investors Title shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Travelers Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 26.4% of Investors Title shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Travelers Companies and Investors Title, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Travelers Companies	2	10	6	1	2.32
Investors Title	0	0	0	0	0.00

Travelers Companies presently has a consensus target price of $284.5556, indicating a potential upside of 7.15%. Given Travelers Companies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Travelers Companies is more favorable than Investors Title.

Summary

Travelers Companies beats Investors Title on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Travelers Companies

The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers’ compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers’ liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners’ insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.

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.