Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) Competitors

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) and Progressive (NYSE:PGR) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking and profitability.

Which has more risk & volatility, BRK.B or PGR?

Berkshire Hathaway has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Progressive has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, BRK.B or PGR?

Berkshire Hathaway has higher revenue and earnings than Progressive. Berkshire Hathaway is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Progressive, 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
Berkshire Hathaway	$424.23B	2.75	$96.22B	$41.27	13.09
Progressive	$78.51B	2.11	$8.48B	$14.83	19.07

Is BRK.B or PGR more profitable?

Berkshire Hathaway has a net margin of 28.89% compared to Progressive's net margin of 11.25%. Progressive's return on equity of 33.79% beat Berkshire Hathaway's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Berkshire Hathaway	28.89%	6.94%	3.77%
Progressive	11.25%	33.79%	8.21%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor BRK.B or PGR?

Progressive received 345 more outperform votes than Berkshire Hathaway when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 67.58% of users gave Berkshire Hathaway an outperform vote while only 54.71% of users gave Progressive an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Berkshire Hathaway	Outperform Votes 271 67.58%	Underperform Votes 130 32.42%
Progressive	Outperform Votes 616 54.71%	Underperform Votes 510 45.29%

Does the media refer more to BRK.B or PGR?

In the previous week, Progressive had 7 more articles in the media than Berkshire Hathaway. MarketBeat recorded 57 mentions for Progressive and 50 mentions for Berkshire Hathaway. Progressive's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Berkshire Hathaway's score of 0.51 indicating that Progressive is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Berkshire Hathaway	21 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	24 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Progressive	40 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in BRK.B or PGR?

39.3% of Berkshire Hathaway shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.3% of Progressive shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of Berkshire Hathaway shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Progressive shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer BRK.B or PGR?

Berkshire Hathaway currently has a consensus target price of $520.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.71%. Progressive has a consensus target price of $287.41, indicating a potential upside of 1.63%. Given Progressive's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Progressive is more favorable than Berkshire Hathaway.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Berkshire Hathaway	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Progressive	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.61

Summary

Progressive beats Berkshire Hathaway on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.