Financial Survey: Swiss Re (OTCMKTS:SSREY) versus MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG)

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) and Swiss Re (OTCMKTS:SSREY) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for MGIC Investment and Swiss Re, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MGIC Investment	0	3	1	0	2.25
Swiss Re	4	4	0	1	1.78

MGIC Investment presently has a consensus price target of $28.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.25%. Given MGIC Investment’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe MGIC Investment is more favorable than Swiss Re.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.6% of MGIC Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of MGIC Investment shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MGIC Investment and Swiss Re”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MGIC Investment	$1.21 billion	4.58	$738.35 million	$3.14	8.24
Swiss Re	$43.14 billion	1.14	$4.74 billion	N/A	N/A

Swiss Re has higher revenue and earnings than MGIC Investment.

Dividends

MGIC Investment pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Swiss Re pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. MGIC Investment pays out 19.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MGIC Investment has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

MGIC Investment has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Swiss Re has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares MGIC Investment and Swiss Re’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MGIC Investment	60.84%	14.33%	11.21%
Swiss Re	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

MGIC Investment beats Swiss Re on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MGIC Investment

MGIC Investment Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance, other mortgage credit risk management solutions, and ancillary services to lenders and government sponsored entities in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The company offers primary mortgage insurance that provides mortgage default protection on individual loans, as well as covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest, and various expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure. It also provides pool insurance for secondary market mortgage transactions; and contract underwriting services, as well as reinsurance. The company serves originators of residential mortgage loans, including savings institutions, commercial banks, mortgage brokers, credit unions, mortgage bankers, and other lenders. MGIC Investment Corporation was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Swiss Re

Swiss Re AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides wholesale reinsurance, insurance, other insurance-based forms of risk transfer, and other insurance-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Property & Casualty Reinsurance, Life & Health Reinsurance, and Corporate Solutions. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment underwrites property reinsurance, including property, credit and surety, engineering, aviation, marine, agriculture, retakaful, and facultative reinsurance solutions; and casualty reinsurance, such as liability, motor, worker's compensation, personal accident, management and professional liability, cyber, and facultative reinsurance solutions. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment underwrites life and health insurance products. The Corporate Solutions segment offers standard risk transfer covers and multi-line programs to customized solutions. It serves stock and mutual insurance companies, public sector and governmental entities, mid-sized and large corporations, and individuals. The company was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.