Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) and Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) Financial Review

Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) and Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) 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

86.2% of Kemper shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Kemper shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ageas and Kemper, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ageas	0	1	0	0	2.00
Kemper	2	0	3	1	2.50

Kemper has a consensus target price of $72.75, indicating a potential upside of 36.76%. Given Kemper’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kemper is more favorable than Ageas.

Risk & Volatility

Ageas has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kemper has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ageas pays an annual dividend of $1.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kemper pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Kemper pays out 24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kemper has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Kemper is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ageas and Kemper”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ageas	$14.68 billion	0.98	$1.21 billion	N/A	N/A
Kemper	$4.64 billion	0.72	$317.80 million	$5.31	10.02

Ageas has higher revenue and earnings than Kemper.

Profitability

This table compares Ageas and Kemper’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ageas	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kemper	7.18%	14.39%	3.25%

Summary

Kemper beats Ageas on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ageas

ageas SA/NV, together with its subsidiaries, engages in insurance business. It operates in five segments: Belgium, Europe, Asia, Reinsurance, and General Account. The company offers property, casualty, and life insurance products, as well as pension products; and reinsurance products. It provides life insurance products include risks related to the life and death of individuals; and non-life insurance products comprise accident and health, motor, fire, and other property insurance products, as well as insurance services for other damages to property. The company serves private individuals, as well as small, medium-sized, and large companies through independent brokers and the bank channels. ageas SA/NV was founded in 1824 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

About Kemper

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance. It provides preferred and specialty automobile, homeowners, renters, fire, umbrella, general liability, and various other property and casualty insurance to individuals, as well as commercial automobile insurance to businesses. The company also offers life insurance, including permanent and term insurance; and supplemental accident and health insurance products, such as Medicare supplement insurance, fixed hospital indemnity, home health care, specified disease, and accident-only plans to individuals in rural, suburban, and urban areas. It distributes its products through independent agents and brokers. The company was formerly known as Unitrin, Inc. and changed its name to Kemper Corporation in August 2011. Kemper Corporation was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.