Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) vs. EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) Head-To-Head Analysis

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) and EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Assured Guaranty and EverQuote’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assured Guaranty	45.31%	7.77%	3.68%
EverQuote	14.34%	57.65%	39.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Assured Guaranty and EverQuote, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assured Guaranty	0	2	2	0	2.50
EverQuote	0	2	6	0	2.75

Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus target price of $98.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.25%. EverQuote has a consensus target price of $23.83, indicating a potential upside of 45.41%. Given EverQuote’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe EverQuote is more favorable than Assured Guaranty.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Assured Guaranty and EverQuote”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assured Guaranty	$1.11 billion	3.37	$503.00 million	$10.24	8.13
EverQuote	$692.52 million	0.85	$99.31 million	$2.64	6.21

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

Volatility and Risk

Assured Guaranty has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EverQuote has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.2% of Assured Guaranty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.5% of EverQuote shares are held by institutional investors. 5.7% of Assured Guaranty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.5% of EverQuote shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Assured Guaranty beats EverQuote on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments. It insures and reinsures various debt obligations, including bonds issued by the United States state governmental authorities; and notes issued to finance infrastructure projects. In addition, the company insures and reinsures various the U.S. public finance obligations, such as general obligation, tax-backed, municipal utility, transportation, healthcare, higher education, infrastructure, housing revenue, investor-owned utility, renewable energy, and other public finance bonds. Further, the company involved in insuring and reinsuring of non-U.S. public finance obligations comprising regulated utilities, infrastructure finance, sovereign and sub-sovereign, renewable energy bonds, pooled infrastructure, and other public finance obligations; and the U.S. and non-U.S. Structured finance obligations, including residential mortgage-backed securities, life insurance transactions, consumer receivables securities, subscription finance facilities, pooled corporate obligations, and financial products. Additionally, it offers specialty business, such as real estate properties, insurance securitizations, and aircraft residual value insurance (RVI) transactions; and asset management services comprising investment advisory services. It markets its financial guaranty insurance directly to issuers and underwriters of public finance and structured finance securities, as well as to investors in such obligations. Assured Guaranty Ltd. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About EverQuote

EverQuote, Inc. operates an online marketplace for insurance shopping in the United States. The company offers auto, home and renters, and life insurance. The company serves carriers and agents, as well as indirect distributors. The company was formerly known as AdHarmonics, Inc., and changed its name to EverQuote, Inc. in November 2014. EverQuote, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.