Analyzing Enstar Group (NASDAQ:ESGR) & ICC (NASDAQ:ICCH)

ICC (NASDAQ:ICCH) and Enstar Group (NASDAQ:ESGR) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for ICC and Enstar Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICC	0	0	0	0	N/A
Enstar Group	0	0	0	0	N/A

Volatility & Risk

ICC has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enstar Group has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ICC and Enstar Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICC	5.91%	7.91%	2.43%
Enstar Group	81.31%	18.55%	4.55%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

46.5% of ICC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.0% of Enstar Group shares are held by institutional investors. 24.1% of ICC shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Enstar Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ICC and Enstar Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICC	$87.93 million	0.82	$4.26 million	$1.72	13.26
Enstar Group	$1.10 billion	4.43	$1.12 billion	$51.50	6.23

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

Summary

Enstar Group beats ICC on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ICC

ICC Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance products to the food and beverage industry in the United States. It offers commercial multi-peril, liquor liability, workers' compensation, and umbrella liability insurance products. The company markets its products through independent agents in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. ICC Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Rock Island, Illinois.

About Enstar Group

Enstar Group Limited acquires and manages insurance and reinsurance companies and portfolios in run-off in Bermuda and internationally. It engages in the run-off property and casualty; other reinsurance; life and catastrophe; and legacy underwriting businesses; as well as investment activities. The company also provides consulting services, including claims inspection, claims validation, reinsurance asset collection, syndicate management, and IT consulting services to the insurance and reinsurance industry. In addition, it offers technical inspections of records and claims investigation, diligence services, finality solutions to Lloyd's syndicates and management, as well as broker replacement, claims resolution, and incentive-based collection services for reinsurers and Lloyd's syndicates. The company was formerly known as Castlewood Holdings Limited and changed its name to Enstar Group Limited in January 2007. Enstar Group Limited was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.