Analyzing Till Capital (OTCMKTS:TILCF) and HCI Group (NYSE:HCI)

Till Capital (OTCMKTS:TILCF) and HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Till Capital and HCI Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Till Capital	0	0	0	0	N/A
HCI Group	0	0	5	0	3.00

HCI Group has a consensus price target of $127.75, suggesting a potential upside of 38.45%. Given HCI Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HCI Group is more favorable than Till Capital.

Volatility & Risk

Till Capital has a beta of -0.7, meaning that its share price is 170% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCI Group has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.0% of HCI Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.5% of Till Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.3% of HCI Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Till Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 110.3%. HCI Group pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. HCI Group pays out 16.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Till Capital	N/A	N/A	N/A
HCI Group	17.72%	40.30%	6.32%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Till Capital and HCI Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Till Capital	$6.76 million	N/A	-$2.18 million	N/A	N/A
HCI Group	$550.67 million	1.76	$79.03 million	$9.83	9.39

HCI Group has higher revenue and earnings than Till Capital.

Summary

HCI Group beats Till Capital on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About HCI Group

HCI Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs. The company also owns and operates waterfront properties and retail shopping centers, and an office building, as well as commercial properties for investment purposes. In addition, it designs and develops web-based applications and products for mobile devices, including SAMS, an online policy administration platform; Harmony, a policy administration platform; ClaimColony, an end-to-end claims management platform; and AtlasViewer, a mapping and data visualization platform. The company was formerly known as Homeowners Choice, Inc. and changed its name to HCI Group, Inc. in May 2013. HCI Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.