NN Group (OTCMKTS:NNGRY) versus Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Critical Comparison

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) and NN Group (OTCMKTS:NNGRY) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Lincoln National and NN Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln National	0	9	0	0	2.00
NN Group	0	4	0	0	2.00

Lincoln National currently has a consensus target price of $37.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.41%. Given Lincoln National’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lincoln National is more favorable than NN Group.

Risk & Volatility

Lincoln National has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NN Group has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lincoln National and NN Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln National	7.00%	18.71%	0.35%
NN Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.8% of Lincoln National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of NN Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Lincoln National shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Lincoln National pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. NN Group pays an annual dividend of $1.99 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Lincoln National pays out 25.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lincoln National and NN Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lincoln National	$18.44 billion	0.32	$3.28 billion	$7.04	4.94
NN Group	$10.28 billion	1.71	$1.71 billion	N/A	N/A

Lincoln National has higher revenue and earnings than NN Group.

Summary

Lincoln National beats NN Group on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lincoln National

Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, universal life insurance (UL), indexed universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL and VUL products, and critical illness and long-term care riders. The Annuities segment offers variable, fixed, and registered index-linked annuities. The Group Protection segment offers group non-medical insurance products consisting of short and long-term disability and statutory disability; paid family medical leave administration and absence management services; term life; dental and vision; and accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity benefits and services to the employer marketplace through various forms of employee-paid and employer-paid plans. The Retirement Plan Services segment provides employers with retirement plan products and services primarily in the defined contribution retirement plan marketplace; individual and group variable annuities, group fixed annuities, and mutual fund-based programs; and various plan services, including plan recordkeeping, compliance testing, participant education, and trust and custodial services. The company distributes its products through consultants, brokers, planners, agents, financial advisors, third-party administrators, and other intermediaries. Lincoln National Corporation was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

About NN Group

NN Group N.V., a financial services company, provides life and non-life insurance products in the Netherlands and internationally. The company operates through Netherlands Life, Netherlands Non-life, Insurance Europe, Japan Life, Banking, and Other segments. It offers Life insurance products, such as group and individual pension products, retail life insurance, and SME life insurance products; and non-life insurance products, including motor, fire, liability, transport, travel, health, property and casualty, and disability and accident insurance products. The company also provides banking services, including mortgage loans, bank annuities, consumer savings, and retail savings and investment products; reinsurance services; and retirement products and services. It offers its products to individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and Corporates customers directly through tied agents, agents/ brokers, platform insurance, and direct channels. The company was formerly known as ING Insurance Topholding N.V. and changed its name to NN Group N.V. in March 2014. NN Group N.V. was founded in 1845 and is headquartered in the Hague, the Netherlands.