Head to Head Comparison: NI (NASDAQ:NODK) & American Coastal Insurance (NASDAQ:ACIC)

NI (NASDAQ:NODK) and American Coastal Insurance (NASDAQ:ACIC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

NI has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Coastal Insurance has a beta of -0.46, meaning that its share price is 146% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NI and American Coastal Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NI	-1.60%	-1.79%	-0.81%
American Coastal Insurance	31.32%	32.26%	8.91%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

21.9% of NI shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.1% of American Coastal Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of NI shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 49.2% of American Coastal Insurance shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NI and American Coastal Insurance”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NI	$285.05 million	1.00	-$10.41 million	($0.20)	-69.65
American Coastal Insurance	$335.44 million	1.56	$106.84 million	$2.10	5.14

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for NI and American Coastal Insurance, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NI	1	0	0	0	1.00
American Coastal Insurance	1	1	1	0	2.00

Summary

American Coastal Insurance beats NI on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NI

NI Holdings, Inc. underwrites property and casualty insurance products in the United States. Its products include private passenger auto, non-standard automobile, homeowners, farm owners, crop hail and multi-peril crop, and liability insurance policies. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. NI Holdings, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Nodak Mutual Group, Inc.

About American Coastal Insurance

American Coastal Insurance Corporation operates as a property and casualty insurance holding company that sources, writes, and services residential personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance policies in the United States. The company offers structure, content, and liability coverage for standard single-family homeowners, renters, and condominium unit owners. It also provides commercial multi-peril property insurance for residential condominium associations and apartments, as well as loss or damage to buildings, inventory, and equipment caused by fire, wind, hail, water, theft, and vandalism. In addition, the company offers equipment breakdown, identity theft, cyber security, and flood policies. The company markets and distributes its products through a network of independent agencies. The company was formerly known as United Insurance Holdings Corp. and changed its name to American Coastal Insurance Corporation in August 2023. American Coastal Insurance Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, Florida.