Contrasting Crawford & Company (CRD.B) & Its Competitors

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) is one of 311 public companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Crawford & Company to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

11.0% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.8% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are owned by institutional investors. 51.0% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Crawford & Company and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.31 billion	$19.63 million	20.46
Crawford & Company Competitors	$15.54 billion	$1.70 billion	34.38

Crawford & Company’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Crawford & Company. Crawford & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Crawford & Company and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	2.01%	29.17%	6.80%
Crawford & Company Competitors	9.15%	-9.84%	4.10%

Volatility and Risk

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crawford & Company’s competitors have a beta of -1.59, meaning that their average stock price is 259% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Crawford & Company and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	0	1	0	0	2.00
Crawford & Company Competitors	3336	15674	16522	741	2.40

As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 5.98%. Given Crawford & Company’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Crawford & Company has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Crawford & Company pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Crawford & Company pays out 59.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 31.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Crawford & Company lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Crawford & Company competitors beat Crawford & Company on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

About Crawford & Company

Crawford & Co. engages in the provision of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers, and corporates. It operates through the following segments: Crawford Loss Adjusting, Crawford TPA Solutions, and Crawford Platform Solutions. The Crawford Loss Adjusting segment consists of adjusting services provided to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property and casualty losses caused by physical damage to commercial and residential real property and certain types of personal property. The Crawford TPA Solutions segment provides third party administration for workers’ compensation, auto and liability, disability absence management, medical management, and accident and health to corporations, brokers, and insurers worldwide. The Crawford Platform Solutions segment is involved in the management of contractor networks and the provision of claims management services to insurance companies and self-insured entities related to property, casualty, and catastrophic losses. The company was founded by Jim Crawford in 1941 and is headquartered in Peachtree Corners, GA.