First American Financial (FAF) Competitors

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) and First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Is MKL or FAF more profitable?

Markel Group has a net margin of 16.34% compared to First American Financial's net margin of 2.14%. First American Financial's return on equity of 9.35% beat Markel Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Markel Group	16.34%	7.55%	1.99%
First American Financial	2.14%	9.35%	3.00%

Which has more risk & volatility, MKL or FAF?

Markel Group has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First American Financial has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MKL or FAF?

77.1% of Markel Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of First American Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Markel Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of First American Financial shares are owned by company 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MKL or FAF?

Markel Group received 14 more outperform votes than First American Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.55% of users gave First American Financial an outperform vote while only 59.24% of users gave Markel Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Markel Group	Outperform Votes 298 59.24%	Underperform Votes 205 40.76%
First American Financial	Outperform Votes 284 60.55%	Underperform Votes 185 39.45%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, MKL or FAF?

Markel Group has higher revenue and earnings than First American Financial. Markel Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First American Financial, 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
Markel Group	$16.75B	1.34	$2.64B	$199.04	8.87
First American Financial	$6.12B	0.99	$131.10M	$1.25	47.17

Does the media refer more to MKL or FAF?

In the previous week, Markel Group had 7 more articles in the media than First American Financial. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Markel Group and 24 mentions for First American Financial. First American Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat Markel Group's score of 0.74 indicating that First American Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Markel Group	19 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First American Financial	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer MKL or FAF?

Markel Group currently has a consensus target price of $1,702.20, indicating a potential downside of 3.54%. First American Financial has a consensus target price of $74.50, indicating a potential upside of 26.36%. Given First American Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First American Financial is more favorable than Markel Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Markel Group	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80
First American Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Summary

First American Financial beats Markel Group on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.