Financial Contrast: Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) vs. Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL)

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) and Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.9% of Old Republic International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Fidelis Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Old Republic International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Old Republic International and Fidelis Insurance”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Republic International	$9.14 billion	1.08	$935.40 million	$3.39	11.90
Fidelis Insurance	$2.50 billion	0.74	$225.50 million	$2.21	8.71

Old Republic International has higher revenue and earnings than Fidelis Insurance. Fidelis Insurance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Republic International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Old Republic International and Fidelis Insurance, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Republic International	0	2	1	1	2.75
Fidelis Insurance	2	3	5	0	2.30

Old Republic International presently has a consensus price target of $42.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.32%. Fidelis Insurance has a consensus price target of $22.36, suggesting a potential upside of 16.11%. Given Fidelis Insurance’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fidelis Insurance is more favorable than Old Republic International.

Volatility & Risk

Old Republic International has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelis Insurance has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Old Republic International and Fidelis Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Republic International	10.24%	16.21%	3.38%
Fidelis Insurance	9.02%	8.62%	1.62%

Dividends

Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Fidelis Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Old Republic International pays out 37.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelis Insurance pays out 27.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Old Republic International has increased its dividend for 45 consecutive years. Old Republic International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Old Republic International beats Fidelis Insurance on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Old Republic International

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business. The General Insurance segment offers aviation, commercial auto, commercial multi-peril, commercial property, general liability, home and auto warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers' compensation insurance products; and financial indemnity products for specialty coverages, including errors and omissions, fidelity, directors and officers, and surety. This segment provides its insurance products to businesses, state and local government, and other institutions in transportation, commercial construction, healthcare, education, retail and wholesale trade, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries. The Title Insurance segment offers lenders' and owners' policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records. This segment also provides escrow closing and construction disbursement services; and real estate information products, national default management services, and various other services pertaining to real estate transfers and loan transactions. The Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business segment offers private mortgage insurance coverage that protects mortgage lenders and investors from default related losses on residential mortgage loans made primarily to homebuyers. Old Republic International Corporation was founded in 1923 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

About Fidelis Insurance

Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, a specialty insurer, provides insurance and reinsurance solutions in Bermuda, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It operates in three segments: Specialty, Reinsurance, and Bespoke segments. The Specialty segment offers aviation and aerospace, energy, marine, property direct and facultative, and other specialty risk solutions. The Reinsurance segment provides property, retrocession, and whole account reinsurance solutions. The Bespoke segment offers customized risk solutions for clients that include credit and political risk, as well as other risk transfer opportunities, including political violence and terrorism, limited cyber reinsurance, tax liabilities, title, transactional liabilities, and other bespoke solutions. Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.