Comparing SelectQuote (NYSE:SLQT) and James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR)

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) and SelectQuote (NYSE:SLQT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

James River Group has a beta of 0.01, meaning that its share price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SelectQuote has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares James River Group and SelectQuote’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James River Group	-7.64%	7.11%	0.69%
SelectQuote	3.95%	10.41%	2.76%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.2% of James River Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.6% of SelectQuote shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.8% of James River Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of SelectQuote shares are owned 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares James River Group and SelectQuote”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
James River Group	$707.63 million	0.41	-$81.12 million	($2.08)	-3.03
SelectQuote	$1.53 billion	0.16	$47.58 million	$0.05	27.10

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for James River Group and SelectQuote, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James River Group	1	4	1	1	2.29
SelectQuote	1	3	0	1	2.20

James River Group presently has a consensus price target of $6.40, indicating a potential upside of 1.43%. SelectQuote has a consensus price target of $3.88, indicating a potential upside of 185.98%. Given SelectQuote’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SelectQuote is more favorable than James River Group.

Summary

SelectQuote beats James River Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About James River Group

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance services. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, and Specialty Admitted Insurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in the United States Puerto Rice, and the United States Virgin Islands. This segment distributes its insurance policies primarily through wholesale insurance brokers. The Specialty Admitted Insurance segment provides insurance for fronting, program administrators, managing general agents, and independent retail agents. James River Group Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.

About SelectQuote

SelectQuote, Inc. operates a technology-enabled, direct-to-consumer distribution platform that sells a range of insurance products and healthcare services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Senior; Life; and Auto & Home. It distributes senior health policies, such as medicare advantage, medicare supplement, medicare part D, and other ancillary senior health insurance related products, including prescription drugs, dental, vision, and hearing plans; life insurance products, such as term life, final expense, and other ancillary products, including critical illness, accidental death, and juvenile insurance; homeowners, auto, dwelling fire, and other ancillary insurance products; and non-commercial auto and home property, and casualty policies. The company also provides SelectRx, an accredited patient-centered pharmacy home pharmacy, which offers essential prescription medications, OTC medications, customized medication packaging, medication therapy management, and long-term pharmacy care; and population health that helps members understand the benefits available under their health plans, and contracts with insurance carriers. SelectQuote, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.