AON (NYSE:AON) vs. The Baldwin Insurance Group (NASDAQ:BWIN) Critical Contrast

The Baldwin Insurance Group (NASDAQ:BWIN) and AON (NYSE:AON) are both financial services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

The Baldwin Insurance Group has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AON has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for The Baldwin Insurance Group and AON, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Baldwin Insurance Group	0	2	4	1	2.86
AON	2	10	4	0	2.13

The Baldwin Insurance Group presently has a consensus target price of $47.67, indicating a potential downside of 10.74%. AON has a consensus target price of $347.06, indicating a potential downside of 2.90%. Given AON’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AON is more favorable than The Baldwin Insurance Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.4% of The Baldwin Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of AON shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.1% of The Baldwin Insurance Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of AON shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares The Baldwin Insurance Group and AON’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Baldwin Insurance Group	-3.67%	10.46%	3.12%
AON	18.00%	252.81%	7.57%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares The Baldwin Insurance Group and AON”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Baldwin Insurance Group	$1.30 billion	4.82	-$90.14 million	($0.92)	-58.04
AON	$13.38 billion	5.81	$2.56 billion	$12.51	28.57

AON has higher revenue and earnings than The Baldwin Insurance Group. The Baldwin Insurance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AON, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

AON beats The Baldwin Insurance Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About The Baldwin Insurance Group

The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. operates as an independent insurance distribution firm that delivers insurance and risk management solutions in the United States. It operates through three segments: Insurance Advisory Solutions; Underwriting, Capacity & Technology Solutions; and Mainstreet Insurance Solutions. The Insurance Advisory Solutions segment provides commercial risk management, employee benefits, and private risk management solutions for businesses and high-net-worth individuals, as well as their families. The Underwriting, Capacity & Technology Solutions segment offers Future platform, that manufactures technology-enabled insurance products suite comprises personal, commercial, and specialty lines; specialty wholesale broker business that delivers professionals, individuals, and niche industry businesses; and reinsurance brokerage services. The Mainstreet Insurance Solutions segment provides personal insurance, commercial insurance, and life and health solutions to individuals and businesses in communities. The company was formerly known as BRP Group, Inc. and changed its name to The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. in May 2024. The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities, capital raising, strategic advice, restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions services; and corporate finance advisory services. In addition, it offers strategic design consulting services on their retirement programs, actuarial services, and risk management services; and advice services on developing and maintaining investment programs across various plan types, including defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, endowments, and foundations for public and private companies, and other institutions. Aon plc was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.