Contrasting Hamilton Insurance Group (NYSE:HG) & United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS)

Hamilton Insurance Group (NYSE:HG) and United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

29.2% of Hamilton Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of United Fire Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Hamilton Insurance Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of United Fire 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hamilton Insurance Group and United Fire Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hamilton Insurance Group	$1.57 billion	1.16	$258.73 million	$3.29	5.42
United Fire Group	$1.10 billion	0.47	-$29.70 million	($0.69)	-29.71

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Hamilton Insurance Group and United Fire Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hamilton Insurance Group	0	1	6	0	2.86
United Fire Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Hamilton Insurance Group currently has a consensus price target of $21.29, indicating a potential upside of 19.31%. United Fire Group has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.32%. Given Hamilton Insurance Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hamilton Insurance Group is more favorable than United Fire Group.

Profitability

This table compares Hamilton Insurance Group and United Fire Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hamilton Insurance Group	21.45%	21.77%	6.52%
United Fire Group	3.17%	5.23%	1.16%

Summary

Hamilton Insurance Group beats United Fire Group on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hamilton Insurance Group

Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides underwriting specialty insurance and reinsurance risks in Bermuda and internationally. The company operates Hamilton Global Specialty, Hamilton Select, and Hamilton Re underwriting platforms. The company offers casualty reinsurance products, such as commercial motor, general liability, healthcare, multiline, personal motor, professional liability, umbrella and excess casualty, and worker's compensation and employer's liability reinsurance; property reinsurance and insurance; and specialty reinsurance solutions, including accident and health, aviation and space, crisis management, mortgage, financial lines, marine and energy, and multiline specialty. In addition, it offers accident and health, cyber, energy, environmental, financial lines, fine art and specie, kidnap and ransom, mergers and acquisitions, marine and energy liability, political risk and violence, professional liability, property binders, property direct and facultative, professional lines, space, upstream energy, excess casualty, war and terrorism, allied medical, management liability, medical professionals, general liability, products liability and contractors, and small business casualty insurance plans, as well as surety and treaty reinsurance products. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.

About United Fire Group

United Fire Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers commercial and personal lines of property and casualty insurance; and reinsurance coverage for property and casualty insurance. Its commercial lines include fire and allied lines, other liability, automobile, workers' compensation, fidelity and surety coverage, and other insurance products; and personal lines comprise automobile, and fire and allied lines coverage, including homeowners, as well as provides assumed reinsurance products. The company sells its products through a network of independent agencies. United Fire Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.