Critical Survey: Hagerty (NYSE:HGTY) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW)

Hagerty (NYSE:HGTY) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Hagerty has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bowhead Specialty has a beta of -1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 206% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hagerty and Bowhead Specialty”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hagerty	$1.20 billion	3.95	$17.02 million	$0.28	49.45
Bowhead Specialty	$519.18 million	1.80	$38.24 million	$1.56	18.32

Bowhead Specialty has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hagerty. Bowhead Specialty is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hagerty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

20.5% of Hagerty shares are held by institutional investors. 16.7% of Hagerty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Hagerty and Bowhead Specialty, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hagerty	0	4	5	0	2.56
Bowhead Specialty	0	4	5	0	2.56

Hagerty presently has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.12%. Bowhead Specialty has a consensus price target of $34.83, suggesting a potential upside of 21.89%. Given Bowhead Specialty’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bowhead Specialty is more favorable than Hagerty.

Profitability

This table compares Hagerty and Bowhead Specialty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hagerty	5.85%	16.85%	4.94%
Bowhead Specialty	10.12%	13.53%	2.91%

Summary

Hagerty beats Bowhead Specialty on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hagerty

Hagerty, Inc. provides insurance agency services worldwide. It offers motor vehicle and boat insurance products; and reinsurance products. The company provides Hagerty Media, which publishes contents through the Hagerty Drivers Club Magazine (HDC), video content, and social media channels; HDC that offers subscription based products and services, including HDC Magazine, automotive enthusiast events, proprietary vehicle valuation tools, emergency roadside services, and special vehicle-related discounts. In addition, it offers HVT, a valuation tool used by the customer to access current and historic pricing data of collector vehicle models. Further, the company offers Hagerty Garage + Social, a platform that provides clubhouses and car storage facilities. Hagerty, Inc. is headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan.

About Bowhead Specialty

Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It underwrites casualty insurance solutions for risks in the construction, distribution, heavy manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality segments; professional liability insurance solutions for financial institutions, private and public directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions liability insurance, and cyber segments; and healthcare solutions for hospitals, senior care providers, managed care organizations, miscellaneous medical facilities, and healthcare management liability segments. The company distributes its products through distribution partners in wholesale and retail markets. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. was formerly known as Bowhead Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. in March 2024. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bowhead Insurance Holdings LP.