Universal Insurance (UVE) Competitors

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) and Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, community ranking, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Does the media favor UVE or HTH?

In the previous week, Hilltop had 5 more articles in the media than Universal Insurance. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Hilltop and 4 mentions for Universal Insurance. Hilltop's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Universal Insurance's score of 0.83 indicating that Hilltop is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Universal Insurance	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hilltop	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in UVE or HTH?

66.6% of Universal Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. 16.6% of Universal Insurance shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 29.9% of Hilltop shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is UVE or HTH a better dividend stock?

Universal Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Universal Insurance pays out 27.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hilltop pays out 36.5% 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. Hilltop has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Universal Insurance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better earnings and valuation, UVE or HTH?

Hilltop has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Universal Insurance. Universal Insurance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hilltop, 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
Universal Insurance	$1.55B	0.48	$66.82M	$2.29	11.56
Hilltop	$1.16B	1.66	$113.21M	$1.97	15.18

Which has more risk & volatility, UVE or HTH?

Universal Insurance has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hilltop has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor UVE or HTH?

Universal Insurance received 51 more outperform votes than Hilltop when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.05% of users gave Universal Insurance an outperform vote while only 52.48% of users gave Hilltop an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Universal Insurance	Outperform Votes 294 64.05%	Underperform Votes 165 35.95%
Hilltop	Outperform Votes 243 52.48%	Underperform Votes 220 47.52%

Do analysts rate UVE or HTH?

Hilltop has a consensus price target of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.33%. Given Hilltop's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hilltop is more favorable than Universal Insurance.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal Insurance	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Hilltop	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is UVE or HTH more profitable?

Hilltop has a net margin of 7.04% compared to Universal Insurance's net margin of 4.82%. Universal Insurance's return on equity of 15.43% beat Hilltop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal Insurance	4.82%	15.43%	2.37%
Hilltop	7.04%	5.18%	0.71%

Summary

Hilltop beats Universal Insurance on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.