Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) & Sampo (OTCMKTS:SAXPY) Head-To-Head Review

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) and Sampo (OTCMKTS:SAXPY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Essent Group has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sampo has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Essent Group and Sampo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essent Group	55.63%	12.40%	9.73%
Sampo	N/A	19.63%	5.56%

Dividends

Essent Group pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Sampo pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Essent Group pays out 18.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sampo pays out 22.3% 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. Essent Group has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Essent Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.0% of Essent Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Sampo shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Essent Group shares are held by company 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Essent Group and Sampo”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essent Group	$1.24 billion	4.88	$729.40 million	$6.87	9.14
Sampo	$2.47 billion	50.92	$1.25 billion	$1.39	16.94

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Essent Group and Sampo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essent Group	1	4	4	0	2.33
Sampo	0	2	0	1	2.67

Essent Group presently has a consensus target price of $65.67, indicating a potential upside of 4.58%. Given Essent Group’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Essent Group is more favorable than Sampo.

Summary

Essent Group beats Sampo on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services. It serves the originators of residential mortgage loans, such as regulated depository institutions, mortgage banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Essent Group Ltd. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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.