Head-To-Head Review: Kingsway Financial Services (KWY) & Its Peers

Kingsway Financial Services (NYSE:KWY) is one of 341 publicly-traded companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Kingsway Financial Services to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Kingsway Financial Services and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kingsway Financial Services	1	0	0	0	1.00
Kingsway Financial Services Competitors	1988	6946	11713	446	2.50

As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 6.28%. Given Kingsway Financial Services’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Kingsway Financial Services has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Volatility & Risk

Kingsway Financial Services has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kingsway Financial Services’ rivals have a beta of 2.50, indicating that their average stock price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.4% of Kingsway Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 41.4% of Kingsway Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.8% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kingsway Financial Services and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kingsway Financial Services	$155.85 million	-$10.73 million	-26.70
Kingsway Financial Services Competitors	$6.38 billion	$1.09 billion	10.06

Kingsway Financial Services’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Kingsway Financial Services. Kingsway Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Kingsway Financial Services and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kingsway Financial Services	-6.53%	-63.24%	-4.41%
Kingsway Financial Services Competitors	-338.89%	-39.94%	-5.83%

Summary

Kingsway Financial Services rivals beat Kingsway Financial Services on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Kingsway Financial Services

Kingsway Financial Services Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the extended warranty business services, asset management, and real estate businesses. The company operates through three segments: Extended Warranty, Leased Real Estate, and Kingsway Search Xcelerator. The Extended Warranty segment markets, sells, and administers vehicle service agreements and related products for new and used automobiles, motorcycles, and ATVs. This segment also sells new home warranty products, as well as offers uninsured warrant administration services to homebuilders and homeowners; markets and distributes warranty products to manufacturers, distributors, and installers of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, standby generator, commercial LED lighting, and commercial refrigeration equipment; and provides equipment breakdown and maintenance support services to companies. The Leased Real Estate segment owns a parcel of real property consisting of approximately 192 acres located in the State of Texas. The Kingsway Search Xcelerator offers outsourced finance and human resources consulting services, including operational accounting, such as bookkeeping, accounting, financial reporting, and analysis and strategic finance services; technical accounting comprising initial public offerings, SEC reporting, and international consolidation services; human resources, workforce management, and compliance support services; and advisory services. The company offers its products and services through credit unions, dealers, homebuilders, and consumers. Kingsway Financial Services Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Itasca, Illinois.