NMI (NASDAQ:NMIH) versus W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Head-To-Head Contrast

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and NMI (NASDAQ:NMIH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.1% of NMI shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.3% of W.R. Berkley shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of NMI shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NMI has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares W.R. Berkley and NMI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.R. Berkley	12.10%	18.17%	3.99%
NMI	55.05%	15.78%	10.64%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares W.R. Berkley and NMI”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.R. Berkley	$14.71 billion	1.73	$1.78 billion	$4.45	15.25
NMI	$706.44 million	3.99	$388.93 million	$4.91	7.54

W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than NMI. NMI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.R. Berkley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for W.R. Berkley and NMI, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.R. Berkley	4	9	4	0	2.00
NMI	0	1	4	0	2.80

W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus target price of $69.67, indicating a potential upside of 2.69%. NMI has a consensus target price of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.09%. Given NMI’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NMI is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.

Summary

NMI beats W.R. Berkley on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

About NMI

NMI Holdings, Inc. provides private mortgage guaranty insurance services in the United States. The company offers mortgage insurance services, such as primary and pool insurance; and outsourced loan review services to mortgage loan originators. It serves national and regional mortgage banks, money center banks, credit unions, community banks, builder-owned mortgage lenders, internet-sourced lenders, and other non-bank lenders. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.