Intact Financial (IFC) Competitors

Intact Financial (TSE:IFC) and Fairfax Financial (TSE:FFH) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Is IFC or FFH a better dividend stock?

Intact Financial pays an annual dividend of C$4.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Fairfax Financial pays an annual dividend of C$20.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Intact Financial pays out 37.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fairfax Financial pays out 7.8% 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.

Does the media prefer IFC or FFH?

In the previous week, Fairfax Financial had 11 more articles in the media than Intact Financial. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Fairfax Financial and 5 mentions for Intact Financial. Intact Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Fairfax Financial's score of 0.67 indicating that Intact Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Intact Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fairfax Financial	5 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer IFC or FFH?

Intact Financial presently has a consensus price target of C$312.55, indicating a potential upside of 0.60%. Fairfax Financial has a consensus price target of C$2,535.71, indicating a potential upside of 3.83%. Given Fairfax Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fairfax Financial is more favorable than Intact Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intact Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Fairfax Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more volatility and risk, IFC or FFH?

Intact Financial has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fairfax Financial has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in IFC or FFH?

53.7% of Intact Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.0% of Fairfax Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Intact Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Fairfax Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is IFC or FFH more profitable?

Fairfax Financial has a net margin of 13.90% compared to Intact Financial's net margin of 8.60%. Fairfax Financial's return on equity of 17.43% beat Intact Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intact Financial	8.60%	13.13%	3.55%
Fairfax Financial	13.90%	17.43%	4.27%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, IFC or FFH?

Fairfax Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Intact Financial. Fairfax Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intact Financial, 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
Intact Financial	C$26.64B	2.07	C$2.29B	C$12.91	24.06
Fairfax Financial	C$21.14B	1.85	C$2.94B	C$261.16	9.35

Summary

Fairfax Financial beats Intact Financial on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.