Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) & Everest Group (NYSE:EG) Head-To-Head Survey

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) and Everest Group (NYSE:EG) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Selective Insurance Group pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Everest Group pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Selective Insurance Group pays out 24.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Everest Group pays out 10.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Selective Insurance Group has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Everest Group has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Everest Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Selective Insurance Group and Everest Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Selective Insurance Group	8.02%	13.73%	3.09%
Everest Group	18.69%	24.86%	6.36%

Volatility & Risk

Selective Insurance Group has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Everest Group has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.9% of Selective Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of Everest Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Selective Insurance Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Everest Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Selective Insurance Group and Everest Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Selective Insurance Group	$4.40 billion	1.35	$365.24 million	$5.66	17.28
Everest Group	$14.59 billion	1.17	$2.52 billion	$67.29	5.84

Everest Group has higher revenue and earnings than Selective Insurance Group. Everest Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Selective Insurance Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Selective Insurance Group and Everest Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Selective Insurance Group	1	4	1	0	2.00
Everest Group	0	3	3	1	2.71

Selective Insurance Group presently has a consensus price target of $105.17, indicating a potential upside of 7.55%. Everest Group has a consensus price target of $432.11, indicating a potential upside of 9.97%. Given Everest Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Everest Group is more favorable than Selective Insurance Group.

Summary

Everest Group beats Selective Insurance Group on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Standard Commercial Lines, Standard Personal Lines, E&S Lines, and Investments. It offers casualty insurance products that covers the financial consequences of employee injuries in the course of employment and bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party; property insurance products, which covers the accidental loss of an insured's real property, personal property, and/or earnings due to the property's loss; and flood insurance products. The company also invests in fixed income investments and commercial mortgage loans, as well as equity securities, short-term investments, and alternative investments, and other investments. It offers its insurance products and services to businesses, non-profit organizations, local government agencies, and individuals through independent retail agents and wholesale general agents. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey.

About Everest Group

Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segment, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines, and general agents in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Singapore, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and accident and health, specialty underwriters, eversports and entertainment, and surety and credit, marine and aviation, as well as structured and property hybrid solutions. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. The company was formerly known as Everest Re Group, Ltd. and changed its name to Everest Group, Ltd. in July 2023.Everest Group, Ltd., was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.