Axis Capital Holdings Limited (AXS) vs Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT)

Axis Capital Holdings Limited and Essent Group Ltd. are both Insurance Specialty companies. Axis Capital Holdings Limited is the larger, with a market value of $6.9B against $5.8B — 1.2× the size. Axis Capital Holdings Limited trades at the lower P/E: 6.7× against 8.8×. Axis Capital Holdings Limited grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 9.10% against 4.31%. Essent Group Ltd. has the higher net margin (51.5% vs 15.8%) and the lower return on invested capital (8.77% vs 12.5%). Both pay a dividend; Axis Capital Holdings Limited yields more (3.08% vs 1.89%). Across the 23 metrics below, Axis Capital Holdings Limited leads on 14 and Essent Group Ltd. on 9.

Valuation

Metric AXS ESNT Insurance Specialty median
P/E 6.65 8.81 9.15
P/S 1.03 4.37 1.84
P/B 1.17 1.02 1.16
Price to free cash flow 2.91 7.00 8.16
EV/EBITDA 5.27 7.60 7.51
EV/Sales 1.08 5.01 2.17
Earnings yield 15.04% 11.34% 10.79%
Free cash flow yield 34.36% 14.28% 11.79%

Profitability

Metric AXS ESNT Insurance Specialty median
Gross margin 30.67% 64.51% 73.81%
Operating margin 20.15% 64.51% 17.70%
Net margin 15.78% 51.45% 13.80%
Free cash flow margin 35.24% 62.43% 34.47%
Return on equity 18.55% 12.01% 12.01%
Return on assets 3.04% 9.19% 4.12%
Return on invested capital 12.51% 8.77% 8.77%

Growth

Metric AXS ESNT Insurance Specialty median
Revenue growth (TTM) 9.10% 4.31% 7.53%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 0.00% 0.73% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 6.27% 5.71% 2.24%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 10.81% 0.00%

Health

Metric AXS ESNT Insurance Specialty median
Debt to equity 0.24 0.09 0.15
Current ratio 0.63 0.31 0.53
Net debt to EBITDA 0.07 0.43 0.28

Dividend

Metric AXS ESNT Insurance Specialty median
Dividend yield 3.08% 1.89% 2.60%
Payout ratio 0.44 0.15 0.21

Size

Metric AXS ESNT Insurance Specialty median
Market cap 6.91b 5.78b 3.13b

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