W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) vs. MS&AD Insurance Group (OTCMKTS:MSADY) Financial Review

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and MS&AD Insurance Group (OTCMKTS:MSADY) are both large-cap 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.8% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of MS&AD Insurance Group shares are held by institutional investors. 23.3% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

W. R. Berkley has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MS&AD Insurance Group has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for W. R. Berkley and MS&AD Insurance Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W. R. Berkley	1	7	4	0	2.25
MS&AD Insurance Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus target price of $70.06, suggesting a potential downside of 4.25%. Given W. R. Berkley’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe W. R. Berkley is more favorable than MS&AD Insurance Group.

Profitability

This table compares W. R. Berkley and MS&AD Insurance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W. R. Berkley	12.88%	20.83%	4.27%
MS&AD Insurance Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares W. R. Berkley and MS&AD Insurance Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W. R. Berkley	$13.95 billion	1.99	$1.76 billion	$4.31	16.98
MS&AD Insurance Group	$45.53 billion	0.80	$2.55 billion	N/A	N/A

MS&AD Insurance Group has higher revenue and earnings than W. R. Berkley.

Dividends

W. R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. MS&AD Insurance Group pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. W. R. Berkley pays out 7.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W. R. Berkley has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years.

Summary

W. R. Berkley beats MS&AD Insurance Group on 12 of the 16 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 MS&AD Insurance Group

MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides insurance and financial services worldwide. The company offers domestic non-life insurance; life insurance; international business; financial services; and provides risk-related services. The company was formerly known as Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. in April 2010. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.