Analyzing Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) & Tiptree Financial (NASDAQ:TIPT)

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) and Tiptree Financial (NASDAQ:TIPT) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Willis Towers Watson Public and Tiptree Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Willis Towers Watson Public	$9.93 billion	3.30	-$98.00 million	$1.46	229.77
Tiptree Financial	$2.04 billion	0.41	$53.37 million	$1.26	17.90

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

Profitability

This table compares Willis Towers Watson Public and Tiptree Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Willis Towers Watson Public	1.40%	21.60%	6.20%
Tiptree Financial	2.77%	13.90%	1.63%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Willis Towers Watson Public and Tiptree Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Willis Towers Watson Public	1	3	7	1	2.67
Tiptree Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus target price of $362.9167, indicating a potential upside of 8.18%. Given Willis Towers Watson Public’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Willis Towers Watson Public is more favorable than Tiptree Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.1% of Willis Towers Watson Public shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.8% of Tiptree Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Willis Towers Watson Public shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 32.7% of Tiptree Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Willis Towers Watson Public has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tiptree Financial has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Willis Towers Watson Public pays an annual dividend of $3.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Tiptree Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public pays out 252.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Tiptree Financial pays out 19.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Willis Towers Watson Public has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Tiptree Financial has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Willis Towers Watson Public is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Willis Towers Watson Public beats Tiptree Financial on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments: Health, Wealth & Career and Risk & Broking. The company offers strategy and design consulting, plan management service and support, broking and administration services for health, wellbeing, and other group benefit program, including medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary benefits and other coverages; actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for pension and retirement savings plans; retirement consulting services and solutions; and integrated solutions that consists of investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial, and communication and change management assistance services. It also provides advice, data, software, and products to address clients' total rewards and talent issues; and risk advice, insurance brokerage, and consulting services in the areas of property and casualty, affinity, risk and analytics, aerospace, construction, global markets direct & facultative, financial, executive and professional risks, financial solutions, crisis management, surety, marine, and natural resources. In addition, the company offers integrated solutions that consists of investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial, and communication and change management assistance services; and software and technology, risk and capital management, products and product pricing, financial and regulatory reporting, financial and capital modeling, M&A, outsourcing, and business management services. The company was formerly known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company and changed its name to Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company in January 2016. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company was founded in 1828 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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.