Head-To-Head Review: Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) & Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA)

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) and Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.2% of Brighthouse Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.6% of Security National Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Brighthouse Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of Security National Financial shares are held 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.

Risk & Volatility

Brighthouse Financial has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Security National Financial has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Brighthouse Financial and Security National Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brighthouse Financial	2	5	1	1	2.11
Security National Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus target price of $60.30, indicating a potential upside of 18.61%. Given Brighthouse Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Brighthouse Financial is more favorable than Security National Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Brighthouse Financial and Security National Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brighthouse Financial	8.71%	25.60%	0.54%
Security National Financial	6.96%	6.90%	1.57%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Brighthouse Financial and Security National Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brighthouse Financial	$4.72 billion	0.62	$388.00 million	$8.34	6.10
Security National Financial	$334.52 million	0.68	$26.54 million	$0.92	9.52

Brighthouse Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Security National Financial. Brighthouse Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Security National Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Brighthouse Financial beats Security National Financial on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. provides annuity and life insurance products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Annuities, Life, and Run-off. The Annuities segment consists of variable, fixed, index-linked, and income annuities for contract holders’ needs for protected wealth accumulation on a tax-deferred basis, wealth transfer, and income security. The Life segment offers term, universal, whole, and variable life products for policyholders’ needs for financial security and protected wealth transfer. The Run-off segment manages structured settlements, pension risk transfer contracts, certain company-owned life insurance policies, funding agreements, and universal life with secondary guarantees. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Security National Financial

Security National Financial Corporation engages in the life insurance, cemetery and mortuary, and mortgage businesses. The company's Life Insurance segment is involved in selling and servicing lines of life insurance, annuity products, and accident and health insurance. It offers various life insurance products, including funeral plans and interest-sensitive life insurance, as well as other traditional life, accident, and health insurance products; annuity products comprising single and flexible premium deferred annuities, and immediate annuities; and diver's accident insurance policies. This segment also cedes and assumes various risks with various authorized unaffiliated reinsurers pursuant to reinsurance treaties. Its Cemetery and Mortuary segment operates eight mortuaries and five cemeteries in Utah; one cemetery in California; and four mortuaries and one cemetery in New Mexico. This segment also offers plots, interment vaults, mausoleum crypts, markers, caskets, urns, and other death care related products; and provides professional services of funeral directors, opening and closing of graves, use of chapels and viewing rooms, and use of automobiles and clothing. The company's Mortgages segment originates and underwrites residential and commercial loans for new construction, existing homes, and real estate projects primarily in Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. It offers residential mortgage lending services to real estate brokers and builders, as well as directly with consumers. Security National Financial Corporation was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.