Contrasting Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) and Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW)

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) and Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Security National Financial has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genworth Financial has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Security National Financial and Genworth Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Security National Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Genworth Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00

Genworth Financial has a consensus target price of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.36%. Given Genworth Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Genworth Financial is more favorable than Security National Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.6% of Security National Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.9% of Genworth Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.0% of Security National Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Genworth Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Security National Financial	6.96%	6.90%	1.57%
Genworth Financial	2.61%	1.91%	0.21%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Security National Financial and Genworth Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Security National Financial	$334.52 million	0.72	$26.54 million	$0.92	10.08
Genworth Financial	$7.30 billion	0.48	$299.00 million	$0.45	18.79

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

Summary

Genworth Financial beats Security National Financial on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides mortgage and long-term care insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Enact, Long-Term Care Insurance, and Life and Annuities. The Enact segment offers private mortgage insurance products primarily insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans; and pool mortgage insurance products. The Long-Term Care Insurance segment offers long-term care insurance products that are intended to protect against the significant and escalating costs of long-term care services provided in the insured's home, assisted living, and nursing facilities. The Life and Annuities segment provides protection and retirement income products, that includes traditional and non-traditional life insurance, such as term, universal and term universal life insurance, corporate-owned life insurance, and funding agreements; fixed annuities; and variable annuities. It distributes its products through sales force, in-house sales representatives, and digital marketing programs. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.