Contrasting Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and Greenlight Capital Re (NASDAQ:GLRE)

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and Greenlight Capital Re (NASDAQ:GLRE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Investors Title and Greenlight Capital Re, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00
Greenlight Capital Re	0	1	1	0	2.50

Risk and Volatility

Investors Title has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenlight Capital Re has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investors Title	13.59%	14.03%	10.62%
Greenlight Capital Re	11.47%	11.69%	3.70%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Investors Title and Greenlight Capital Re”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Investors Title	$272.76 million	1.83	$35.18 million	$20.10	13.17
Greenlight Capital Re	$729.78 million	0.75	$74.83 million	$2.37	6.97

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.4% of Investors Title shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.5% of Greenlight Capital Re shares are held by institutional investors. 26.0% of Investors Title shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.7% of Greenlight Capital Re shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Investors Title beats Greenlight Capital Re on 9 of the 12 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 Greenlight Capital Re

Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, operates as a property and casualty reinsurance company worldwide. The company offers various property reinsurance products and services, including automobile physical damage, personal lines, and commercial lines. It also provides casualty reinsurance products and services comprising general liability, motor liability, professional liability, and worker's compensation; and accident and health, transactional liability, mortgage insurance, surety, trade credit, marine, and energy, as well as other specialty products, such as aviation, crop, cyber, political, and terrorism products. The company markets its products through reinsurance brokers. Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.