Stewart Information Services (STC) Competitors

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) and Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, community ranking, dividends, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Which has more risk & volatility, FAF or STC?

First American Financial has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stewart Information Services has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FAF or STC more profitable?

First American Financial has a net margin of 3.64% compared to First American Financial's net margin of 1.83%. Stewart Information Services' return on equity of 8.17% beat First American Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First American Financial	3.64%	8.17%	2.51%
Stewart Information Services	1.83%	4.69%	2.39%

Which has better valuation and earnings, FAF or STC?

First American Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Stewart Information Services. First American Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stewart Information Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First American Financial	$6.00B	0.99	$216.80M	$2.09	27.53
Stewart Information Services	$2.26B	0.79	$30.44M	$1.52	42.53

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FAF or STC?

First American Financial received 84 more outperform votes than Stewart Information Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.57% of users gave First American Financial an outperform vote while only 52.47% of users gave Stewart Information Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First American Financial	Outperform Votes 275 60.57%	Underperform Votes 179 39.43%
Stewart Information Services	Outperform Votes 191 52.47%	Underperform Votes 173 47.53%

Do analysts rate FAF or STC?

First American Financial presently has a consensus price target of $67.75, suggesting a potential upside of 17.74%. Stewart Information Services has a consensus price target of $69.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.24%. Given Stewart Information Services' higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First American Financial is more favorable than Stewart Information Services.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First American Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Stewart Information Services	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do institutionals and insiders believe in FAF or STC?

89.1% of First American Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First American Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is FAF or STC a better dividend stock?

First American Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. First American Financial pays out 101.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stewart Information Services pays out 125.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First American Financial has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Stewart Information Services has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. First American Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor FAF or STC?

In the previous week, First American Financial had 14 more articles in the media than Stewart Information Services. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for First American Financial and 3 mentions for Stewart Information Services. First American Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.72 beat Stewart Information Services' score of 0.41 indicating that Stewart Information Services is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First American Financial	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Stewart Information Services	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

First American Financial beats Stewart Information Services on 17 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.