Contrasting HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW)

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.0% of HCI Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.3% of HCI Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HCI Group and Bowhead Specialty”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HCI Group	$706.97 million	1.78	$79.03 million	$9.83	12.19
Bowhead Specialty	$348.44 million	2.82	N/A	N/A	N/A

HCI Group has higher revenue and earnings than Bowhead Specialty.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for HCI Group and Bowhead Specialty, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HCI Group	0	0	5	0	3.00
Bowhead Specialty	0	3	2	0	2.40

HCI Group currently has a consensus target price of $129.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.63%. Bowhead Specialty has a consensus target price of $29.40, indicating a potential downside of 5.65%. Given HCI Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe HCI Group is more favorable than Bowhead Specialty.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HCI Group	21.63%	44.01%	8.33%
Bowhead Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

HCI Group beats Bowhead Specialty on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Bowhead Specialty

Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It underwrites casualty insurance solutions for risks in the construction, distribution, heavy manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality segments; professional liability insurance solutions for financial institutions, private and public directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions liability insurance, and cyber segments; and healthcare solutions for hospitals, senior care providers, managed care organizations, miscellaneous medical facilities, and healthcare management liability segments. The company distributes its products through distribution partners in wholesale and retail markets. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. was formerly known as Bowhead Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. in March 2024. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bowhead Insurance Holdings LP.