Financial Contrast: RenaissanceRe Holdings (RNR) and Platinum Underwriters Holdings (PTP)

RenaissanceRe Holdings (NYSE: RNR) and Platinum Underwriters Holdings (NYSE:PTP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitabiliy.

Profitability

This table compares RenaissanceRe Holdings and Platinum Underwriters Holdings’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RenaissanceRe Holdings	28.30%	8.49%	2.92%
Platinum Underwriters Holdings	24.85%	8.33%	3.89%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.6% of RenaissanceRe Holdings shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of RenaissanceRe Holdings shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for RenaissanceRe Holdings and Platinum Underwriters Holdings, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RenaissanceRe Holdings	0	7	0	0	2.00
Platinum Underwriters Holdings	0	0	0	0	N/A

RenaissanceRe Holdings presently has a consensus target price of $140.83, indicating a potential downside of 4.76%. Given RenaissanceRe Holdings’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe RenaissanceRe Holdings is more favorable than Platinum Underwriters Holdings.

Dividends

RenaissanceRe Holdings pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Platinum Underwriters Holdings does not pay a dividend. RenaissanceRe Holdings pays out 10.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Platinum Underwriters Holdings has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares RenaissanceRe Holdings and Platinum Underwriters Holdings’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RenaissanceRe Holdings	$1.77 billion	3.36	$710.24 million	$11.74	12.60
Platinum Underwriters Holdings	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

RenaissanceRe Holdings has higher revenue and earnings than Platinum Underwriters Holdings.

Summary

RenaissanceRe Holdings beats Platinum Underwriters Holdings on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Company Profile

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. provides reinsurance and insurance coverages and related services to a range of customers. The Company’s products include property, casualty and specialty reinsurance and certain insurance products principally distributed through intermediaries. Its segments include Property; Casualty and Specialty, and Other category. The Property segment consisted of catastrophe and other property reinsurance and insurance written on behalf of its operating subsidiaries and certain joint ventures managed by its ventures unit. The Casualty and Specialty segment consisted of casualty and specialty reinsurance and insurance written on behalf of its operating subsidiaries and certain joint ventures managed by its ventures unit. Its Other category includes its strategic investments, investments unit, corporate expenses, capital servicing. The Casualty and Specialty segment offers certain casualty insurance products through RenaissanceRe Syndicate 1458 (Syndicate 1458).

Platinum Underwriters Holdings Company Profile

Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (Platinum Holdings) is a holding company. Through its reinsurance subsidiaries the Company provides property and marine, casualty and finite risk reinsurance coverage to a diverse clientele of insurers and select reinsurers on a worldwide basis. The Company operates through two licensed reinsurance subsidiaries: Platinum Underwriters Bermuda, Ltd. (Platinum Bermuda), a Bermuda reinsurance company, and Platinum Underwriters Reinsurance, Inc. (Platinum US), a United States reinsurance company. Platinum Bermuda is a wholly owned subsidiary of Platinum Holdings and Platinum US is a wholly owned subsidiary of Platinum Finance. The Company operates in three segments: Property and Marine, Casualty and Finite Risk. The Property and Marine provides insurance coverage against loss of property. Casualty provides coverage for loss or damage to persons or property. The Finite Risk offers non-traditional reinsurance.