Reviewing Conifer (NASDAQ:CNFR) & Hamilton Insurance Group (NYSE:HG)

Conifer (NASDAQ:CNFR) and Hamilton Insurance Group (NYSE:HG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

34.9% of Conifer shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.2% of Hamilton Insurance Group shares are held by institutional investors. 70.4% of Conifer shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Hamilton Insurance Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Conifer and Hamilton Insurance Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Conifer	0	0	0	0	0.00
Hamilton Insurance Group	0	1	6	0	2.86

Hamilton Insurance Group has a consensus price target of $21.43, indicating a potential upside of 16.08%. Given Hamilton Insurance Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hamilton Insurance Group is more favorable than Conifer.

Profitability

This table compares Conifer and Hamilton Insurance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Conifer	34.76%	-335.82%	-9.84%
Hamilton Insurance Group	21.88%	21.92%	6.70%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Conifer and Hamilton Insurance Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Conifer	$96.85 million	0.14	-$25.90 million	$2.42	0.46
Hamilton Insurance Group	$1.57 billion	1.20	$258.73 million	$4.47	4.13

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

Summary

Hamilton Insurance Group beats Conifer on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Conifer

Conifer Holdings, Inc., an insurance holding company, engages in the sale of property and casualty insurance products. The company offers insurance coverage in specialty commercial and personal product lines. It also underwrites various specialty insurance products, including property, general liability, liquor liability, automobile, and homeowners and dwelling policies. The company serves the commercial insurance needs of owner-operated businesses in the markets, such as hospitality, which includes restaurants, bars, taverns, and bowling centers, as well as small grocery and convenience stores; artisan contractors comprising plumbers, painters, carpenters, electricians, and other independent contractors; and security service providers, including companies that provide security guard services, security alarm products and services, and private investigative services. It offers specialty homeowners insurance products, such as low- value dwelling insurance tailored for owners of lower valued homes in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas; and wholesale agency services comprising commercial and personal lines insurance products for its insurance company subsidiaries, as well as third party insurers. Conifer Holdings, Inc. markets and sells its insurance products through a network of independent agents in 50 states in the United States. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Troy, Michigan.

About Hamilton Insurance Group

Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides underwriting specialty insurance and reinsurance risks in Bermuda and internationally. The company operates Hamilton Global Specialty, Hamilton Select, and Hamilton Re underwriting platforms. The company offers casualty reinsurance products, such as commercial motor, general liability, healthcare, multiline, personal motor, professional liability, umbrella and excess casualty, and worker's compensation and employer's liability reinsurance; property reinsurance and insurance; and specialty reinsurance solutions, including accident and health, aviation and space, crisis management, mortgage, financial lines, marine and energy, and multiline specialty. In addition, it offers accident and health, cyber, energy, environmental, financial lines, fine art and specie, kidnap and ransom, mergers and acquisitions, marine and energy liability, political risk and violence, professional liability, property binders, property direct and facultative, professional lines, space, upstream energy, excess casualty, war and terrorism, allied medical, management liability, medical professionals, general liability, products liability and contractors, and small business casualty insurance plans, as well as surety and treaty reinsurance products. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.