Reviewing Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL) and Progressive (NYSE:PGR)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Progressive and Fidelis Insurance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Progressive	0	6	11	0	2.65
Fidelis Insurance	0	3	3	0	2.50

Progressive currently has a consensus price target of $273.81, indicating a potential upside of 12.57%. Fidelis Insurance has a consensus price target of $21.50, indicating a potential upside of 20.65%. Given Fidelis Insurance’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fidelis Insurance is more favorable than Progressive.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Progressive	11.27%	33.10%	7.90%
Fidelis Insurance	20.17%	15.27%	3.36%

Volatility & Risk

Progressive has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelis Insurance has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.3% of Progressive shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Fidelis Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Progressive shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Progressive and Fidelis Insurance”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Progressive	$71.96 billion	1.98	$3.90 billion	$13.76	17.68
Fidelis Insurance	$2.29 billion	0.92	$2.13 billion	$3.96	4.50

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

Dividends

Progressive pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Fidelis Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Progressive pays out 2.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelis Insurance pays out 10.1% 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.

Summary

Progressive beats Fidelis Insurance on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property. The Personal Lines segment writes insurance for personal autos and recreational vehicles (RV). This segment's products include personal auto insurance; and special lines products, including insurance for motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, watercrafts, snowmobiles, and related products. The Commercial Lines segment provides auto-related liability and physical damage insurance, and business-related general liability and property insurance for autos, vans, and pick-up trucks used by small businesses, as well as non-fleet taxis, black-car services, and airport taxis; tractors, trailers, and straight trucks primarily used by regional general freight and expeditor-type businesses, and long-haul operators; dump trucks used by light contractors and heavy constructions; log trucks and garbage trucks used by dirt, sand and gravel, logging, garbage/debris removal, and coal-type businesses; and tow trucks and wreckers used in towing services and gas/service station businesses. The Property segment writes residential property insurance for homeowners, other property owners, and renters, as well as offers manufactured homes, personal umbrella insurance, and primary and excess flood insurance. The company offers policy issuance and claims adjusting services; acts as an agent to homeowners, general liability, workers' compensation insurance, and other products; and reinsurance services. It sells its products through independent insurance agencies, as well as through mobile applications and over the phone. The Progressive Corporation was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio.

About Fidelis Insurance

Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, a specialty insurer, provides insurance and reinsurance solutions 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, as well as 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.