Waterdrop (NYSE:WDH) & Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) Financial Comparison

Waterdrop (NYSE:WDH) and Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.

Dividends

Waterdrop pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Investors Title pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Waterdrop pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Investors Title pays out 8.6% 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.

Volatility & Risk

Waterdrop has a beta of -0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 124% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Investors Title has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.0% of Waterdrop shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.4% of Investors Title shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.6% of Waterdrop shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 26.0% of Investors Title shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Waterdrop and Investors Title, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waterdrop	1	0	0	0	1.00
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

This table compares Waterdrop and Investors Title’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waterdrop	10.69%	10.47%	7.40%
Investors Title	13.80%	14.62%	11.02%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Waterdrop and Investors Title”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waterdrop	$568.81 million	0.64	$81.36 million	$0.21	4.83
Investors Title	$272.76 million	1.95	$35.18 million	$21.35	13.20

Waterdrop has higher revenue and earnings than Investors Title. Waterdrop is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Investors Title, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Investors Title beats Waterdrop on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Waterdrop

Waterdrop Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides online insurance brokerage services to match and connect users with related insurance products underwritten by insurance companies in the People's Republic of China. The company offers short-term health and long-term health and life insurance products and services. It also operates a medical crowdfunding platform. Waterdrop Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies. It offers services in connection with tax-deferred exchanges of like-kind property; acts as a qualified intermediary in tax-deferred exchanges of property; coordinates the exchange aspects of the real estate transaction, such as drafting standard exchange documents, holding the exchange funds between the sale of the old property and the purchase of the new property, and accepting the formal identification of the replacement property. In addition, it serves as an exchange accommodation titleholder for accomplishing reverse exchanges when the taxpayers decide to acquire replacement property before selling the relinquished property. Further, the company offers investment management and trust services to individuals, companies, banks, and trusts; and consulting and management services to clients to start and operate a title insurance agency. It issues title insurance policies directly and through a network of agents in 22 states and the District of Columbia, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. Investors Title Company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.