Reviewing United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) & Till Capital (OTCMKTS:TILCF)

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) and Till Capital (OTCMKTS:TILCF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares United Fire Group and Till Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Fire Group	3.17%	5.23%	1.16%
Till Capital	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

United Fire Group has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Till Capital has a beta of -0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 172% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for United Fire Group and Till Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Fire Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Till Capital	0	0	0	0	N/A

United Fire Group presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, suggesting a potential downside of 5.47%. Given United Fire Group’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe United Fire Group is more favorable than Till Capital.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of United Fire Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of United Fire Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 27.5% of Till Capital shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

United Fire Group pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Till Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 130.4%. United Fire Group pays out -92.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Fire Group and Till Capital”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Fire Group	$1.10 billion	0.46	-$29.70 million	($0.69)	-29.13
Till Capital	$6.76 million	0.54	-$2.18 million	N/A	N/A

Till Capital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than United Fire Group.

Summary

United Fire Group beats Till Capital on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Fire Group

United Fire Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers commercial and personal lines of property and casualty insurance; and reinsurance coverage for property and casualty insurance. Its commercial lines include fire and allied lines, other liability, automobile, workers’ compensation, fidelity and surety coverage, and other insurance products; and personal lines comprise automobile, and fire and allied lines coverage, including homeowners, as well as provides assumed reinsurance products. The company sells its products through a network of independent agencies. United Fire Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

About Till Capital

Till Capital Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mineral exploration activities. The company explores for silver, gold, copper, and other deposits. It owns various mineral royalties and exploration property option agreements. The company also holds an interest in the Copper King property. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.