Enstar Group (NASDAQ:ESGR – Get Rating) and AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.
Risk & Volatility
Enstar Group has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AXIS Capital has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Enstar Group and AXIS Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Enstar Group | N/A | 8.29% | 2.10% |
| AXIS Capital | 11.62% | 9.77% | 1.70% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
73.4% of Enstar Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of AXIS Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.8% of Enstar Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of AXIS Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Enstar Group and AXIS Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Enstar Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| AXIS Capital | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
AXIS Capital has a consensus price target of $59.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.96%. Given AXIS Capital’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AXIS Capital is more favorable than Enstar Group.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Enstar Group and AXIS Capital’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Enstar Group | $789.00 million | 5.78 | $473.00 million | $19.16 | 13.14 |
| AXIS Capital | $5.32 billion | 0.90 | $618.61 million | $6.90 | 8.22 |
AXIS Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Enstar Group. AXIS Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Enstar Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
AXIS Capital beats Enstar Group on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
Enstar Group Company Profile (Get Rating)
Enstar Group Limited acquires and manages insurance and reinsurance companies, and portfolios of insurance and reinsurance business in run-off. It engages in the run-off property and casualty, and other non-life lines insurance businesses. The company also provides consulting services, including claims inspection, claims validation, reinsurance asset collection, syndicate management, and IT consulting services to the insurance and reinsurance industry. It operates in Bermuda, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other Continental European countries. The company was formerly known as Castlewood Holdings Limited and changed its name to Enstar Group Limited in January 2007. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
AXIS Capital Company Profile (Get Rating)
AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of various insurance and reinsurance products and services. It operates through the Insurance and Reinsurance segments. The Insurance segment offers property, marine, terrorism, aviation, political risk, professional lines, liability, and accident, and health insurance products. The Reinsurance segment provides non-life treaty reinsurance to insurance companies. The company was founded on December 9, 2002 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.
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