Financial Comparison: James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK)

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

James River Group has a beta of -0.02, indicating that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prudential Public has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares James River Group and Prudential Public”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
James River Group	$687.61 million	0.42	$47.43 million	$0.73	8.52
Prudential Public	$27.39 billion	1.38	$3.98 billion	N/A	N/A

Prudential Public has higher revenue and earnings than James River Group.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James River Group	6.90%	12.01%	1.23%
Prudential Public	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for James River Group and Prudential Public, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James River Group	0	4	1	0	2.20
Prudential Public	0	3	4	0	2.57

James River Group currently has a consensus target price of $7.25, suggesting a potential upside of 16.56%. Given James River Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe James River Group is more favorable than Prudential Public.

Dividends

James River Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Prudential Public pays an annual dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. James River Group pays out 5.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.2% of James River Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.9% of Prudential Public shares are held by institutional investors. 33.8% of James River Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Prudential Public shares are held by 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.

Summary

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

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.

About Prudential Public

Prudential plc, through its subsidiaries, provides life and health insurance, and asset management solutions to individuals in Asia and Africa. The company was founded in 1848 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong.