Analyzing Amacore Group (OTCMKTS:ACGI) & James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR)

Amacore Group (OTCMKTS:ACGI) and James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Amacore Group and James River Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amacore Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
James River Group	1	3	2	1	2.43

James River Group has a consensus target price of $6.06, indicating a potential upside of 3.46%. Given James River Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe James River Group is more favorable than Amacore Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.2% of James River Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.8% of James River Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Amacore Group and James River Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amacore Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
James River Group	$707.63 million	0.38	-$81.12 million	($2.08)	-2.82

Amacore Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than James River Group.

Profitability

This table compares Amacore Group and James River Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amacore Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
James River Group	-7.64%	7.11%	0.69%

Volatility and Risk

Amacore Group has a beta of 3.35, suggesting that its share price is 235% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James River Group has a beta of 0.01, suggesting that its share price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

James River Group beats Amacore Group on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amacore Group

The Amacore Group, Inc. provides and markets healthcare-related membership products for individuals and families. Its products include limited and major medical insurance programs, supplemental medical insurance, and discount dental and vision programs. The company also provides and markets lifestyle membership programs, including insurance discounts, discount benefit savings, ID theft, legal counsel, credit management, automotive warranties, employment protection, and a host of others. The company serves insurance carriers, financial institutions, affiliate marketers, direct marketers, insurance agents, and fortune 500 companies. It distributes its products and services through various distribution methods, such as its agent network, inbound call center, in-house sales representatives, network marketing, and affinity marketing partners, as well as through third-party direct response marketers. The Amacore Group, Inc. was formerly known as Eye Care International Inc. and changed its name to The Amacore Group, Inc. in April 2005. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Maitland, Florida.

About James River Group

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance services. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, and Specialty Admitted Insurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in the United States Puerto Rice, and the United States Virgin Islands. This segment distributes its insurance policies primarily through wholesale insurance brokers. The Specialty Admitted Insurance segment provides insurance for fronting, program administrators, managing general agents, and independent retail agents. James River Group Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.