Reviewing Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) & Oxbridge Re (NASDAQ:OXBR)

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) and Oxbridge Re (NASDAQ:OXBR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Marsh & McLennan Companies and Oxbridge Re, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marsh & McLennan Companies	0	9	7	0	2.44
Oxbridge Re	1	0	1	0	2.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus price target of $236.43, suggesting a potential upside of 24.53%. Oxbridge Re has a consensus price target of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 192.40%. Given Oxbridge Re’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Oxbridge Re is more favorable than Marsh & McLennan Companies.

Profitability

This table compares Marsh & McLennan Companies and Oxbridge Re’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marsh & McLennan Companies	15.60%	31.79%	8.14%
Oxbridge Re	-151.89%	-59.48%	-35.20%

Volatility & Risk

Marsh & McLennan Companies has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oxbridge Re has a beta of 1.99, meaning that its stock price is 99% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Marsh & McLennan Companies and Oxbridge Re”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marsh & McLennan Companies	$24.46 billion	3.82	$4.06 billion	$8.34	22.76
Oxbridge Re	$1.98 million	6.58	-$2.73 million	($0.41)	-4.17

Marsh & McLennan Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Oxbridge Re. Oxbridge Re is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marsh & McLennan Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.0% of Marsh & McLennan Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.6% of Oxbridge Re shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Marsh & McLennan Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.5% of Oxbridge Re shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Marsh & McLennan Companies pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Oxbridge Re pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 28.1%. Marsh & McLennan Companies pays out 43.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Oxbridge Re pays out -117.1% 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. Marsh & McLennan Companies has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Oxbridge Re is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Marsh & McLennan Companies beats Oxbridge Re on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services. The Consulting segment offers health, wealth, and career solutions and products, and specialized management, strategic, economic, and brand consulting services. The company was founded by Henry W. Marsh and Donald R. McLennan in 1871 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

About Oxbridge Re

Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides specialty property and casualty reinsurance solutions. The company underwrites collateralized reinsurance contracts primarily for property and casualty insurance companies in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. It also issues reinsurance contracts through digital securities by blockchain technology. In addition, the company offers fractional aircraft ownership, jet card, aircraft brokerage, and charter service through its fleet of private aircraft. It distributes its products and solutions through reinsurance brokers. Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in George Town, the Cayman Islands.