Critical Comparison: Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) and UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS)

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) and UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UL Solutions has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	1.37%	24.21%	5.46%
UL Solutions	11.24%	30.99%	13.15%

Dividends

Crawford & Company pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. UL Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Crawford & Company pays out 83.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UL Solutions pays out 33.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Crawford & Company and UL Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	1	0	0	0	1.00
UL Solutions	0	5	5	1	2.64

UL Solutions has a consensus target price of $101.54, suggesting a potential upside of 12.82%. Given UL Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe UL Solutions is more favorable than Crawford & Company.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.0% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.0% of Crawford & Company shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of UL Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Crawford & Company and UL Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.31 billion	0.40	$19.63 million	$0.36	29.58
UL Solutions	$3.05 billion	5.94	$325.00 million	$1.71	52.63

UL Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Crawford & Company. Crawford & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UL Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

UL Solutions beats Crawford & Company on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About UL Solutions

UL Solutions Inc. provides safety science services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial, Consumer, and Software and Advisory. The Industrial segment provides testing, inspection, and certification services across various end markets, including energy, industrial automation, engineered materials, and built environment, as well as stakeholders, such as manufacturers, building owners, end users, and regulators. The Consumer segment offers safety certification testing, ongoing certification, global market access, testing for connectivity, performance and quality, and critical systems advisory and training services, as well as product market acceptance and risk mitigation services for customers in the consumer products end markets comprising consumer electronics, medical devices, information technologies, appliances, HVAC, lighting, and retail, as well as consumer applications, such as new mobility, smart products, and 5G. The Software and Advisory segment provide software and technical advisory services that enable customers to manage regulatory requirements, deliver supply chain transparency, and operationalize sustainability for regulated industries, including life sciences, supply chain regulations, transparency needs, and new ESG and sustainability requirements. It offers ULTRUS software brand to help customers improve speed to market, sustainability and safety. UL Solutions Inc. was formerly known as UL Inc. and changed its name to UL Solutions Inc. in June 2022. The company was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois with additional offices in North America, Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East. UL Solutions Inc. operates as a subsidiary of ULSE Inc.