Head to Head Contrast: Hagerty (NYSE:HGTY) and W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and Hagerty (NYSE:HGTY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares W.R. Berkley and Hagerty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.R. Berkley	12.10%	18.17%	3.99%
Hagerty	5.98%	16.24%	4.81%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.5% of Hagerty shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.0% of W.R. Berkley shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of Hagerty shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hagerty has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares W.R. Berkley and Hagerty”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.R. Berkley	$14.71 billion	1.74	$1.78 billion	$4.45	15.33
Hagerty	$1.46 billion	2.34	$49.02 million	$0.33	30.16

W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than Hagerty. W.R. Berkley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hagerty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for W.R. Berkley and Hagerty, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.R. Berkley	4	9	4	0	2.00
Hagerty	0	4	4	0	2.50

W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus target price of $69.67, suggesting a potential upside of 2.14%. Hagerty has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 40.68%. Given Hagerty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hagerty is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.

Summary

W.R. Berkley beats Hagerty on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

About Hagerty

Hagerty, Inc. provides insurance agency services worldwide. It offers motor vehicle and boat insurance products; and reinsurance products. The company provides Hagerty Media, which publishes contents through the Hagerty Drivers Club Magazine (HDC), video content, and social media channels; HDC that offers subscription based products and services, including HDC Magazine, automotive enthusiast events, proprietary vehicle valuation tools, emergency roadside services, and special vehicle-related discounts. In addition, it offers HVT, a valuation tool used by the customer to access current and historic pricing data of collector vehicle models. Further, the company offers Hagerty Garage + Social, a platform that provides clubhouses and car storage facilities. Hagerty, Inc. is headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan.