James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) Critical Review

Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) and James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Bowhead Specialty and James River Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bowhead Specialty	0	3	2	0	2.40
James River Group	1	2	3	0	2.33

Bowhead Specialty presently has a consensus price target of $29.20, suggesting a potential upside of 2.82%. James River Group has a consensus price target of $11.17, suggesting a potential upside of 80.40%. Given James River Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe James River Group is more favorable than Bowhead Specialty.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bowhead Specialty and James River Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bowhead Specialty	$348.44 million	2.57	N/A	N/A	N/A
James River Group	$817.84 million	0.29	-$107.68 million	($2.09)	-2.96

Bowhead Specialty has higher earnings, but lower revenue than James River Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.2% of James River Group shares are held by institutional investors. 15.2% of James River Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Bowhead Specialty and James River Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bowhead Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A
James River Group	-12.79%	11.66%	1.24%

Summary

James River Group beats Bowhead Specialty on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bowhead Specialty

Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It underwrites casualty insurance solutions for risks in the construction, distribution, heavy manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality segments; professional liability insurance solutions for financial institutions, private and public directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions liability insurance, and cyber segments; and healthcare solutions for hospitals, senior care providers, managed care organizations, miscellaneous medical facilities, and healthcare management liability segments. The company distributes its products through distribution partners in wholesale and retail markets. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. was formerly known as Bowhead Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. in March 2024. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bowhead Insurance Holdings LP.

About James River Group

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance services. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, and Specialty Admitted Insurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in the United States Puerto Rice, and the United States Virgin Islands. This segment distributes its insurance policies primarily through wholesale insurance brokers. The Specialty Admitted Insurance segment provides insurance for fronting, program administrators, managing general agents, and independent retail agents. James River Group Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.