Contrasting Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and Tokio Marine (OTCMKTS:TKOMY)

Tokio Marine (OTCMKTS:TKOMY) and Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tokio Marine and Investors Title”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tokio Marine	$55.42 billion	1.44	$6.96 billion	$2.76	14.92
Investors Title	$272.76 million	1.56	$35.18 million	$18.57	12.11

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Tokio Marine and Investors Title, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tokio Marine	0	2	0	0	2.00
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00

Volatility & Risk

Tokio Marine has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Investors Title has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Tokio Marine and Investors Title’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tokio Marine	9.29%	15.81%	2.57%
Investors Title	12.90%	13.22%	10.12%

Dividends

Tokio Marine pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Investors Title pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Tokio Marine pays out 37.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Investors Title pays out 9.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

Investors Title beats Tokio Marine on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tokio Marine

Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in non-life and life insurance, international insurance, and financial and general businesses worldwide. The company provides business, fire, Internet and mobile, rental housing, and natural catastrophe risk insurance services, as well as insurance for retail and corporate fields. It also provides property investment, insurance agency and risk consulting, human resource, in-home care and nursing care information, healthcare/medical, call center, and real estate-related services. Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. serves individuals, small to medium sized non-profit organizations, schools, or churches. The company was formerly known as Millea Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. in 2008. Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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.