Critical Survey: Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) versus Zurich Insurance Group (OTCMKTS:ZURVY)

Zurich Insurance Group (OTCMKTS:ZURVY) and Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Dividends

Zurich Insurance Group pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Old Republic International pays out 38.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Republic International has increased its dividend for 45 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Zurich Insurance Group and Old Republic International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zurich Insurance Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Old Republic International	9.53%	17.11%	3.59%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Zurich Insurance Group and Old Republic International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zurich Insurance Group	$59.51 billion	1.77	$5.81 billion	N/A	N/A
Old Republic International	$8.75 billion	1.25	$852.80 million	$2.99	14.84

Zurich Insurance Group has higher revenue and earnings than Old Republic International.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Zurich Insurance Group and Old Republic International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zurich Insurance Group	2	2	0	0	1.50
Old Republic International	0	0	1	2	3.67

Old Republic International has a consensus price target of $46.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.81%. Given Old Republic International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Old Republic International is more favorable than Zurich Insurance Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Zurich Insurance Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.9% of Old Republic International shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Zurich Insurance Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Old Republic International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Zurich Insurance Group has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Republic International has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Old Republic International beats Zurich Insurance Group on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zurich Insurance Group

Zurich Insurance Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and related services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Property & Casualty Regions, Life Regions, Farmers, Group Functions and Operations, and Non-Core Businesses segments. It offers car and motor, home, travel, general liability, life and critical illness, and other insurance products; and saving and investment, and pension and retirement planning products. The company also provides property, casualty, energy and engineering lines, and marine; commercial management liability, financial institutions, and professional indemnity; and cyber, accident and health, and credit lines and surety insurance products, as well as and non-claims and ancillary services to the farmers exchanges. In addition, it offers employee benefit insurance products; and climate resilience, risk engineering, captive, and cyber resilience, as well as climate risk assessment and reinsurance services. The company serves individuals, small businesses, and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations. It sells its products through agents, brokers, and bank distribution channels. Zurich Insurance Group AG was founded in 1872 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

About Old Republic International

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business. The General Insurance segment offers aviation, commercial auto, commercial multi-peril, commercial property, general liability, home and auto warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers' compensation insurance products; and financial indemnity products for specialty coverages, including errors and omissions, fidelity, directors and officers, and surety. This segment provides its insurance products to businesses, state and local government, and other institutions in transportation, commercial construction, healthcare, education, retail and wholesale trade, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries. The Title Insurance segment offers lenders' and owners' policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records. This segment also provides escrow closing and construction disbursement services; and real estate information products, national default management services, and various other services pertaining to real estate transfers and loan transactions. The Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business segment offers private mortgage insurance coverage that protects mortgage lenders and investors from default related losses on residential mortgage loans made primarily to homebuyers. Old Republic International Corporation was founded in 1923 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.