Head-To-Head Contrast: Ambac Financial Group (NYSE:AMBC) & NI (NASDAQ:NODK)

NI (NASDAQ:NODK) and Ambac Financial Group (NYSE:AMBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.9% of NI shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Ambac Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of NI shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Ambac Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares NI and Ambac Financial Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NI	$325.20 million	0.86	-$6.06 million	$0.13	104.38
Ambac Financial Group	$249.54 million	1.59	-$556.45 million	($15.34)	-0.59

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for NI and Ambac Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NI	1	0	0	0	1.00
Ambac Financial Group	1	0	1	0	2.00

Ambac Financial Group has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 65.93%. Given Ambac Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ambac Financial Group is more favorable than NI.

Profitability

This table compares NI and Ambac Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NI	0.87%	1.05%	0.47%
Ambac Financial Group	-215.40%	-3.50%	-0.49%

Risk and Volatility

NI has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ambac Financial Group has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About NI

NI Holdings, Inc. underwrites property and casualty insurance products in the United States. Its products include private passenger auto, non-standard automobile, homeowners, farm owners, crop hail and multi-peril crop, and liability insurance policies. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. NI Holdings, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Nodak Mutual Group, Inc.

About Ambac Financial Group

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. operates as a financial services holding company. It operates three businesses: Specialty Property and Casualty Insurance, Insurance Distribution, and Legacy Financial Guarantee (LFG) Insurance. The Specialty Property and Casualty Insurance business provides specialty property and casualty program insurance with a focus commercial and personal liability risks. The Insurance Distribution business includes the specialty property and casualty insurance distribution business, which includes managing general agents and underwriters, insurance wholesalers, brokers, and other distribution businesses. The LFG Insurance business offers financial guarantee insurance policies that provide an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee, which protects the holder of a debt obligation against non-payment when due of the principal and interest on the obligations guaranteed. Ambac Financial Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in New York, New York.