Reviewing Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and RLI (NYSE:RLI)

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and RLI (NYSE:RLI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Investors Title and RLI”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	1.56	$35.18 million	$18.57	12.15
RLI	$1.88 billion	2.97	$403.34 million	$4.36	13.94

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.4% of Investors Title shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.9% of RLI shares are held by institutional investors. 26.4% of Investors Title shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of RLI shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Investors Title pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. RLI pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Investors Title pays out 9.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. RLI pays out 14.7% 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. RLI has increased its dividend for 51 consecutive years. RLI is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Investors Title has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RLI has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Investors Title and RLI, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00
RLI	1	6	1	0	2.00

RLI has a consensus price target of $65.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.29%. Given RLI’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe RLI is more favorable than Investors Title.

Profitability

This table compares Investors Title and RLI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investors Title	12.90%	13.22%	10.12%
RLI	21.43%	18.67%	5.41%

Summary

RLI beats Investors Title on 10 of the 16 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 RLI

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance. Its Casualty segment provides commercial and personal coverage products; and general liability products, such as coverage for third-party liability of commercial insureds, including manufacturers, contractors, apartments, and mercantile. It also offers coverages for security guards and environmental liability for underground storage tanks, contractors and asbestos, and environmental remediation specialists; and professional liability coverages for errors and omission coverage for small to medium-sized design, technical, computer, and miscellaneous professionals. This segment provides commercial automobile liability and physical damage insurance to local, intermediate and long haul truckers, public transportation entities, and other types of specialty commercial automobile risks; incidental and related insurance coverages; inland marine coverages; management liability coverages, such as directors and officers liability insurance, fiduciary liability and coverages, employment practice liability, and for various classes of risks, including public and private businesses; and home business insurance products. The company's Property segment offers commercial property, cargo, hull, protection and indemnity, marine liability, inland marine, homeowners' and dwelling fire, and other property insurance products. Its Surety segment offers commercial surety bonds for medium to large-sized businesses; small bonds for businesses and individuals; and bonds for small to medium-sized contractors. The company also engages in various reinsurance coverages. It markets its products through branch offices, wholesale and retail brokers, carrier partners, and underwriting and independent agents. RLI Corp. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.