Head-To-Head Review: Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) versus Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC)

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Investors Title and Skyward Specialty Insurance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investors Title	12.90%	13.19%	10.01%
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group	12.00%	17.98%	3.77%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Investors Title and Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group	0	3	7	2	2.92

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has a consensus price target of $65.80, indicating a potential upside of 58.86%. Given Skyward Specialty Insurance Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Skyward Specialty Insurance Group is more favorable than Investors Title.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Investors Title and Skyward Specialty Insurance Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Investors Title	$272.76 million	1.49	$35.18 million	$18.57	11.57
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group	$1.42 billion	1.30	$170.03 million	$4.07	10.18

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

Volatility & Risk

Investors Title has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Investors Title beats Skyward Specialty Insurance Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies. It offers services in connection with tax-deferred exchanges of like-kind property; acts as a qualified intermediary in tax-deferred exchanges of property; coordinates the exchange aspects of the real estate transaction, such as drafting standard exchange documents, holding the exchange funds between the sale of the old property and the purchase of the new property, and accepting the formal identification of the replacement property. In addition, it serves as an exchange accommodation titleholder for accomplishing reverse exchanges when the taxpayers decide to acquire replacement property before selling the relinquished property. Further, the company offers investment management and trust services to individuals, companies, banks, and trusts; and consulting and management services to clients to start and operate a title insurance agency. It issues title insurance policies directly and through a network of agents in 22 states and the District of Columbia, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. Investors Title Company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

About Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, underwrites commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It offers general liability, excess liability, professional liability, commercial auto, group accident and health, property, surety, and workers' compensation insurance products. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.