The Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) and Hallmark Financial Services (NASDAQ:HALL) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for The Travelers Companies and Hallmark Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
The Travelers Companies | 3 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 2.11 |
Hallmark Financial Services | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
The Travelers Companies presently has a consensus target price of $135.20, indicating a potential downside of 7.08%. Hallmark Financial Services has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 89.70%. Given Hallmark Financial Services' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hallmark Financial Services is more favorable than The Travelers Companies.
Profitability
This table compares The Travelers Companies and Hallmark Financial Services' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
The Travelers Companies | 7.13% | 8.63% | 2.04% |
Hallmark Financial Services | -24.61% | -18.17% | -2.57% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
81.8% of The Travelers Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.2% of Hallmark Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of The Travelers Companies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.6% of Hallmark Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares The Travelers Companies and Hallmark Financial Services' gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
The Travelers Companies | $31.58 billion | 1.16 | $2.62 billion | $9.60 | 15.16 |
Hallmark Financial Services | $486.37 million | 0.14 | $-630,000.00 | ($0.93) | -3.97 |
The Travelers Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Hallmark Financial Services. Hallmark Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Travelers Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
The Travelers Companies has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hallmark Financial Services has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
The Travelers Companies beats Hallmark Financial Services on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.