National Interstate (NATL) Competitors

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) and National Interstate (NASDAQ:NATL) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AXS or NATL?

AXIS Capital has higher revenue and earnings than National Interstate. National Interstate is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AXIS Capital, 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
AXIS Capital	$6.02B	1.36	$1.08B	$12.35	8.19
National Interstate	$4.19B	0.48	-$134M	-$1.68	-16.54

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AXS or NATL?

AXIS Capital received 252 more outperform votes than National Interstate when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 56.76% of users gave National Interstate an outperform vote while only 54.78% of users gave AXIS Capital an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AXIS Capital	Outperform Votes 378 54.78%	Underperform Votes 312 45.22%
National Interstate	Outperform Votes 126 56.76%	Underperform Votes 96 43.24%

Does the media prefer AXS or NATL?

In the previous week, AXIS Capital had 22 more articles in the media than National Interstate. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for AXIS Capital and 1 mentions for National Interstate. AXIS Capital's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat National Interstate's score of 0.00 indicating that AXIS Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AXIS Capital	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
National Interstate	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is AXS or NATL more profitable?

AXIS Capital has a net margin of 18.16% compared to National Interstate's net margin of -2.69%. National Interstate's return on equity of 59.25% beat AXIS Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AXIS Capital	18.16%	18.89%	3.05%
National Interstate	-2.69%	59.25%	2.80%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AXS or NATL?

93.4% of AXIS Capital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of National Interstate shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of AXIS Capital shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of National Interstate shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, AXS or NATL?

AXIS Capital has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Interstate has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate AXS or NATL?

AXIS Capital presently has a consensus target price of $100.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.65%. National Interstate has a consensus target price of $44.25, indicating a potential upside of 59.21%. Given National Interstate's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe National Interstate is more favorable than AXIS Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AXIS Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
National Interstate	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Summary

AXIS Capital beats National Interstate on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.