Head-To-Head Survey: Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) and Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA)

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) and Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Security National Financial and Investors Title”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Security National Financial	$344.59 million	0.70	$32.15 million	$1.39	6.32
Investors Title	$272.76 million	2.09	$35.18 million	$21.35	14.11

Investors Title has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Security National Financial. Security National Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Investors Title, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Security National Financial and Investors Title, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Security National Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
Investors Title	0	0	1	0	3.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.6% of Security National Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.4% of Investors Title shares are held by institutional investors. 15.0% of Security National Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 26.0% of Investors Title shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Security National Financial and Investors Title’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Security National Financial	11.10%	9.13%	2.36%
Investors Title	13.80%	14.62%	11.02%

Volatility and Risk

Security National Financial has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Investors Title has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Investors Title beats Security National Financial on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Security National Financial

Security National Financial Corporation engages in the life insurance, cemetery and mortuary, and mortgage businesses. The company's Life Insurance segment is involved in selling and servicing lines of life insurance, annuity products, and accident and health insurance. It offers various life insurance products, including funeral plans and interest-sensitive life insurance, as well as other traditional life, accident, and health insurance products; annuity products comprising single and flexible premium deferred annuities, and immediate annuities; and diver's accident insurance policies. This segment also cedes and assumes various risks with various authorized unaffiliated reinsurers pursuant to reinsurance treaties. Its Cemetery and Mortuary segment operates eight mortuaries and five cemeteries in Utah; one cemetery in California; and four mortuaries and one cemetery in New Mexico. This segment also offers plots, interment vaults, mausoleum crypts, markers, caskets, urns, and other death care related products; and provides professional services of funeral directors, opening and closing of graves, use of chapels and viewing rooms, and use of automobiles and clothing. The company's Mortgages segment originates and underwrites residential and commercial loans for new construction, existing homes, and real estate projects primarily in Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. It offers residential mortgage lending services to real estate brokers and builders, as well as directly with consumers. Security National Financial Corporation was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies. It offers services in connection with tax-deferred exchanges of like-kind property; acts as a qualified intermediary in tax-deferred exchanges of property; coordinates the exchange aspects of the real estate transaction, such as drafting standard exchange documents, holding the exchange funds between the sale of the old property and the purchase of the new property, and accepting the formal identification of the replacement property. In addition, it serves as an exchange accommodation titleholder for accomplishing reverse exchanges when the taxpayers decide to acquire replacement property before selling the relinquished property. Further, the company offers investment management and trust services to individuals, companies, banks, and trusts; and consulting and management services to clients to start and operate a title insurance agency. It issues title insurance policies directly and through a network of agents in 22 states and the District of Columbia, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. Investors Title Company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.