Beazley (BEZ) Competitors

Lancashire (LON:LRE) and Beazley (LON:BEZ) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Is LRE or BEZ a better dividend stock?

Lancashire pays an annual dividend of GBX 18 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Beazley pays an annual dividend of GBX 14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Lancashire pays out 34.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Beazley pays out 8.8% 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.

Do analysts recommend LRE or BEZ?

Lancashire presently has a consensus target price of GBX 663, suggesting a potential upside of 6.59%. Beazley has a consensus target price of GBX 1,150, suggesting a potential upside of 26.72%. Given Beazley's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Beazley is more favorable than Lancashire.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lancashire	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Beazley	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk and volatility, LRE or BEZ?

Lancashire has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beazley has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LRE or BEZ more profitable?

Lancashire has a net margin of 37.12% compared to Beazley's net margin of 22.82%. Beazley's return on equity of 32.60% beat Lancashire's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lancashire	37.12%	10.76%	6.75%
Beazley	22.82%	32.60%	9.50%

Does the media prefer LRE or BEZ?

In the previous week, Lancashire and Lancashire both had 3 articles in the media. Lancashire's average media sentiment score of 0.45 beat Beazley's score of 0.20 indicating that Lancashire is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lancashire	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Beazley	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, LRE or BEZ?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lancashire	£536.12M	3.50	£199.02M	£52.49	11.85
Beazley	£6.57B	1.06	£1.50B	£159.74	5.68

Do institutionals and insiders believe in LRE or BEZ?

60.5% of Lancashire shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.5% of Beazley shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Lancashire shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Beazley shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Beazley beats Lancashire on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.