Head to Head Analysis: Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) vs. Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL)

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) and Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.6% of Universal Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Fidelis Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. 17.5% of Universal Insurance shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Universal Insurance and Fidelis Insurance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal Insurance	0	0	1	0	3.00
Fidelis Insurance	0	4	3	0	2.43

Universal Insurance presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.82%. Fidelis Insurance has a consensus target price of $20.13, suggesting a potential upside of 9.14%. Given Universal Insurance’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Universal Insurance is more favorable than Fidelis Insurance.

Volatility & Risk

Universal Insurance has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelis Insurance has a beta of -0.1, suggesting that its share price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Universal Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Fidelis Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Universal Insurance pays out 25.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelis Insurance pays out 9.7% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Universal Insurance and Fidelis Insurance’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Universal Insurance	$1.39 billion	0.44	$66.82 million	$2.55	8.39
Fidelis Insurance	$3.60 billion	0.60	$2.13 billion	$4.12	4.48

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

Profitability

This table compares Universal Insurance and Fidelis Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal Insurance	5.60%	21.14%	3.06%
Fidelis Insurance	20.96%	15.67%	3.43%

Summary

Fidelis Insurance beats Universal Insurance on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. It develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages. The company also advises on actuarial issues, oversees distribution, administers claims payments, performs policy administration and underwriting, and assists with reinsurance negotiations; places and manages reinsurance programs for the insurance entities; and operates Clovered.com, a digital agency for various carrier partners and utilization of digital applications for adjusting claims. It offers its products through a network of independent agents, as well as direct-to-consumer online solutions, including digital insurance agency. The company was formerly known as Universal Heights, Inc. and changed its name to Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. in January 2001. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

About Fidelis Insurance

Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance products in Bermuda, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It operates in three segments: Specialty, Reinsurance, and Bespoke segments. The Specialty segment offers aviation and aerospace, energy, marine, property direct and facultative, and other specialty risk solutions. The Reinsurance segment provides property, retrocession, and whole account reinsurance solutions. The Bespoke segment offers customized risk solutions for clients that include credit and political risk, and other risk transfer opportunities, including political violence and terrorism, limited cyber reinsurance, tax liabilities, title, transactional liabilities, and other bespoke solutions. Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.