Head-To-Head Review: Crawford & Company (CRD.B) and The Competition

Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) is one of 311 public companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Crawford & Company to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Crawford & Company has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crawford & Company’s competitors have a beta of -1.51, suggesting that their average share price is 251% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crawford & Company	1.81%	28.15%	6.51%
Crawford & Company Competitors	9.36%	-9.77%	4.23%

Dividends

Crawford & Company pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Crawford & Company pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 30.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Crawford & Company lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Crawford & Company and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crawford & Company	0	1	0	0	2.00
Crawford & Company Competitors	3321	15635	16466	738	2.40

As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 5.34%. Given Crawford & Company’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Crawford & Company has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Crawford & Company and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crawford & Company	$1.31 billion	$19.63 million	25.27
Crawford & Company Competitors	$15.49 billion	$1.70 billion	34.51

Crawford & Company’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Crawford & Company. Crawford & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

11.0% of Crawford & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 51.0% of Crawford & Company shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Crawford & Company competitors beat Crawford & Company on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

Crawford & Company Company Profile

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.