Analyzing Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK)

Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) and Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Prudential Public and Fidelity National Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prudential Public	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fidelity National Financial	7.93%	14.30%	1.28%

Risk and Volatility

Prudential Public has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelity National Financial has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Prudential Public and Fidelity National Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prudential Public	0	1	5	0	2.83
Fidelity National Financial	0	1	4	0	2.80

Fidelity National Financial has a consensus target price of $70.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.79%. Given Fidelity National Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fidelity National Financial is more favorable than Prudential Public.

Dividends

Prudential Public pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Fidelity National Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Fidelity National Financial pays out 48.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelity National Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Fidelity National Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Prudential Public and Fidelity National Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prudential Public	$21.26 billion	1.76	$2.29 billion	N/A	N/A
Fidelity National Financial	$13.72 billion	1.17	$1.27 billion	$4.30	13.82

Prudential Public has higher revenue and earnings than Fidelity National Financial.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.9% of Prudential Public shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Fidelity National Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Prudential Public shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Fidelity National Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Fidelity National Financial beats Prudential Public on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Prudential Public

Prudential plc, through its subsidiaries, provides life and health insurance, and asset management solutions to individuals in Asia and Africa. The company was founded in 1848 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products. The company also provides technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries; and mortgage transaction services, including title-related services and facilitation of production and management of mortgage loans. In addition, it offers annuity and life insurance products, such as deferred and immediate annuities, as well as indexed universal life insurance products; and funding agreements and pension risk transfer (PRT) solutions. Further, the company engages in the real estate brokerage business. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.