Employers (EIG) Competitors

Employers (NYSE:EIG) and HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and dividends.

Is EIG or HCI a better dividend stock?

Employers pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. HCI Group pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Employers pays out 25.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HCI Group pays out 21.2% 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, EIG or HCI?

Employers has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCI Group has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in EIG or HCI?

80.5% of Employers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.0% of HCI Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Employers shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.3% of HCI Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate EIG or HCI?

Employers presently has a consensus price target of $55.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.09%. HCI Group has a consensus price target of $124.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.07%. Given Employers' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Employers is more favorable than HCI Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Employers	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
HCI Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is EIG or HCI more profitable?

HCI Group has a net margin of 14.35% compared to Employers' net margin of 13.88%. HCI Group's return on equity of 36.40% beat Employers' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Employers	13.88%	10.54%	2.82%
HCI Group	14.35%	36.40%	4.64%

Does the media refer more to EIG or HCI?

In the previous week, HCI Group had 5 more articles in the media than Employers. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for HCI Group and 1 mentions for Employers. HCI Group's average media sentiment score of 0.54 beat Employers' score of 0.50 indicating that HCI Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Employers	Positive
HCI Group	Positive

Which has higher earnings & valuation, EIG or HCI?

Employers has higher revenue and earnings than HCI Group. Employers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCI Group, 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
Employers	$850.90M	1.30	$118.10M	$4.47	9.73
HCI Group	$550.67M	2.06	$79.03M	$7.56	15.02

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer EIG or HCI?

Employers received 43 more outperform votes than HCI Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.67% of users gave Employers an outperform vote while only 61.44% of users gave HCI Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Employers	Outperform Votes 282 62.67%	Underperform Votes 168 37.33%
HCI Group	Outperform Votes 239 61.44%	Underperform Votes 150 38.56%

Summary

HCI Group beats Employers on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.