Lemonade (NYSE:LMND) and W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Financial Contrast

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and Lemonade (NYSE:LMND) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for W. R. Berkley and Lemonade, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W. R. Berkley	1	6	5	0	2.33
Lemonade	2	4	1	0	1.86

W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus price target of $63.08, suggesting a potential upside of 8.00%. Lemonade has a consensus price target of $20.17, suggesting a potential upside of 8.13%. Given Lemonade’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lemonade is more favorable than W. R. Berkley.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

68.8% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.3% of Lemonade shares are held by institutional investors. 23.0% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Lemonade shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares W. R. Berkley and Lemonade”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W. R. Berkley	$13.16 billion	1.70	$1.38 billion	$3.76	15.53
Lemonade	$429.80 million	3.08	-$236.90 million	($2.97)	-6.28

W. R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than Lemonade. Lemonade is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W. R. Berkley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares W. R. Berkley and Lemonade’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W. R. Berkley	12.05%	21.34%	4.26%
Lemonade	-44.24%	-30.34%	-12.55%

Risk & Volatility

W. R. Berkley has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lemonade has a beta of 1.77, meaning that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

W. R. Berkley beats Lemonade on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

About Lemonade

Lemonade, Inc. provides various insurance products through various channels in the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Its insurance products include stolen or damaged property, and personal liability that protects its customers if they are responsible for an accident or damage to another person or their property. The company also offers renters, homeowners, car, pet, and life insurance products, as well as landlord insurance policies. In addition, it operates as an agent for other insurance companies. The company was formerly known as Lemonade Group, Inc. and changed its name to Lemonade, Inc. Lemonade, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in New York, New York.