James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR – Get Free Report) and SelectQuote (NYSE:SLQT – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for James River Group and SelectQuote, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| James River Group | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2.29 |
| SelectQuote | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2.20 |
James River Group currently has a consensus target price of $6.40, suggesting a potential upside of 0.16%. SelectQuote has a consensus target price of $3.88, suggesting a potential upside of 181.82%. Given SelectQuote’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SelectQuote is more favorable than James River Group.
Volatility and Risk
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares James River Group and SelectQuote”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| James River Group | $646.58 million | 0.45 | -$81.12 million | ($2.08) | -3.07 |
| SelectQuote | $1.53 billion | 0.16 | $47.58 million | $0.05 | 27.50 |
SelectQuote has higher revenue and earnings than James River Group. James River Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SelectQuote, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
95.2% of James River Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.6% of SelectQuote shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.8% of James River Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of SelectQuote shares are owned 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.
Profitability
This table compares James River Group and SelectQuote’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| James River Group | -7.64% | 7.11% | 0.69% |
| SelectQuote | 3.95% | 10.41% | 2.76% |
Summary
SelectQuote beats James River Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About James River Group
James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance services. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, and Specialty Admitted Insurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in the United States Puerto Rice, and the United States Virgin Islands. This segment distributes its insurance policies primarily through wholesale insurance brokers. The Specialty Admitted Insurance segment provides insurance for fronting, program administrators, managing general agents, and independent retail agents. James River Group Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.
About SelectQuote
SelectQuote, Inc. operates a technology-enabled, direct-to-consumer distribution platform that sells a range of insurance products and healthcare services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Senior; Life; and Auto & Home. It distributes senior health policies, such as medicare advantage, medicare supplement, medicare part D, and other ancillary senior health insurance related products, including prescription drugs, dental, vision, and hearing plans; life insurance products, such as term life, final expense, and other ancillary products, including critical illness, accidental death, and juvenile insurance; homeowners, auto, dwelling fire, and other ancillary insurance products; and non-commercial auto and home property, and casualty policies. The company also provides SelectRx, an accredited patient-centered pharmacy home pharmacy, which offers essential prescription medications, OTC medications, customized medication packaging, medication therapy management, and long-term pharmacy care; and population health that helps members understand the benefits available under their health plans, and contracts with insurance carriers. SelectQuote, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.
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