Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) versus Seibels Bruce Group (OTCMKTS:SBBG) Critical Survey

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) and Seibels Bruce Group (OTCMKTS:SBBG) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.0% of Essent Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Essent Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 55.4% of Seibels Bruce Group 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Essent Group and Seibels Bruce Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essent Group	1	4	4	0	2.33
Seibels Bruce Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Essent Group presently has a consensus price target of $65.67, suggesting a potential upside of 10.40%. Given Essent Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Essent Group is more favorable than Seibels Bruce Group.

Profitability

This table compares Essent Group and Seibels Bruce Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essent Group	56.36%	12.66%	9.98%
Seibels Bruce Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Essent Group has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seibels Bruce Group has a beta of 4.85, meaning that its stock price is 385% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Essent Group and Seibels Bruce Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essent Group	$1.29 billion	4.53	$729.40 million	$6.85	8.68
Seibels Bruce Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Essent Group has higher revenue and earnings than Seibels Bruce Group.

Summary

Essent Group beats Seibels Bruce Group on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services. It serves the originators of residential mortgage loans, such as regulated depository institutions, mortgage banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Essent Group Ltd. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Seibels Bruce Group

The Seibels Bruce Group, Inc. provides processing, technology, and claims solutions to the property and casualty insurance industry. The company offers processing solutions for coastal markets; business process outsourcing; claims administration solutions; information technology outsourcing; and professional services. It also provides technology solutions, such as IPX enterprise insurance suite, CPX claims management system, FNOL first notice of loss, and reinspection processing xpert solutions; and claims solutions, including third party administration, catastrophe management, first notice of loss, multi-line adjusting and examination, reinspection, and subrogation/salvage services. The company was founded in 1869 and is based in Columbia, South Carolina.