Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) versus James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) Critical Analysis

Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) and James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Ageas has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James River Group has a beta of 0.08, meaning that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Ageas and James River Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ageas	0	1	0	0	2.00
James River Group	0	3	2	0	2.40

James River Group has a consensus target price of $6.06, indicating a potential upside of 9.43%. Given James River Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe James River Group is more favorable than Ageas.

Dividends

Ageas pays an annual dividend of $1.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. James River Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. James River Group pays out -1.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Ageas and James River Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ageas	N/A	N/A	N/A
James River Group	-12.81%	-2.12%	-0.22%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ageas and James River Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ageas	$14.68 billion	0.93	$1.21 billion	N/A	N/A
James River Group	$707.63 million	0.36	-$81.12 million	($3.09)	-1.79

Ageas has higher revenue and earnings than James River Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.2% of James River Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.5% of James River Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ageas beats James River Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ageas

ageas SA/NV, together with its subsidiaries, engages in insurance business. It operates in five segments: Belgium, Europe, Asia, Reinsurance, and General Account. The company offers property, casualty, and life insurance products, as well as pension products; and reinsurance products. It provides life insurance products include risks related to the life and death of individuals; and non-life insurance products comprise accident and health, motor, fire, and other property insurance products, as well as insurance services for other damages to property. The company serves private individuals, as well as small, medium-sized, and large companies through independent brokers and the bank channels. ageas SA/NV was founded in 1824 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

About James River Group

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance services. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, and Specialty Admitted Insurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in the United States Puerto Rice, and the United States Virgin Islands. This segment distributes its insurance policies primarily through wholesale insurance brokers. The Specialty Admitted Insurance segment provides insurance for fronting, program administrators, managing general agents, and independent retail agents. James River Group Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.