Critical Analysis: Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL) and AXA (OTCMKTS:AXAHY)

AXA (OTCMKTS:AXAHY) and Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of AXA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Fidelis Insurance shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AXA and Fidelis Insurance”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AXA	$84.92 billion	1.26	$11.08 billion	N/A	N/A
Fidelis Insurance	$2.17 billion	1.02	$225.50 million	$2.21	10.38

AXA has higher revenue and earnings than Fidelis Insurance.

Risk and Volatility

AXA has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelis Insurance has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

AXA pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Fidelis Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Fidelis Insurance pays out 27.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares AXA and Fidelis Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AXA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fidelis Insurance	9.02%	8.62%	1.62%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for AXA and Fidelis Insurance, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AXA	0	0	1	1	3.50
Fidelis Insurance	2	3	3	0	2.13

Fidelis Insurance has a consensus target price of $21.92, suggesting a potential downside of 4.46%. Given Fidelis Insurance’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Fidelis Insurance is more favorable than AXA.

Summary

AXA beats Fidelis Insurance on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AXA

AXA SA, through its subsidiaries, provides insurance, asset management, and banking services worldwide. The company operates through six segments: France; Europe; AXA XL; Asia, Africa & EME-LATAM; AXA Investment Managers; and Transversal & Other segments It offers life and savings insurance products, such as savings and retirement, other health, and personal protection products. The company also provides property and casualty insurance products, including car, home, and personal or professional liability to individual and business clients; international insurance for large corporate clients in Europe; and marine and aviation insurance services, as well as property and casualty reinsurance products. In addition, it offers asset management services in the areas of various asset classes, including equities, bonds, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate for the group’s insurance companies and their clients, and retail and institutional clients. Further, the company provides motor, household, property and general liability, health, term life, whole life, universal life, endowment, deferred and immediate annuities, and other investment-based products for personal/individual and commercial/ group customers. AXA SA was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About Fidelis Insurance

Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, a specialty insurer, provides insurance and reinsurance solutions in Bermuda, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It operates in three segments: Specialty, Reinsurance, and Bespoke segments. The Specialty segment offers aviation and aerospace, energy, marine, property direct and facultative, and other specialty risk solutions. The Reinsurance segment provides property, retrocession, and whole account reinsurance solutions. The Bespoke segment offers customized risk solutions for clients that include credit and political risk, as well as other risk transfer opportunities, including political violence and terrorism, limited cyber reinsurance, tax liabilities, title, transactional liabilities, and other bespoke solutions. Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.