MBIA (NYSE:MBI) & Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) Critical Comparison

MBIA (NYSE:MBI) and Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for MBIA and Ageas, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MBIA	1	0	1	0	2.00
Ageas	0	1	1	0	2.50

MBIA presently has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 20.68%. Given MBIA’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe MBIA is more favorable than Ageas.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.0% of MBIA shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.3% of MBIA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MBIA	-221.25%	N/A	-1.68%
Ageas	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares MBIA and Ageas”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MBIA	$80.00 million	3.96	-$177.00 million	($3.58)	-1.74
Ageas	$15.59 billion	0.98	$1.94 billion	N/A	N/A

Ageas has higher revenue and earnings than MBIA.

Volatility and Risk

MBIA has a beta of 1.81, indicating that its stock price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ageas has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About MBIA

MBIA Inc. provides financial guarantee insurance services to public finance markets in the United States. It operates United States (U.S.) Public Finance Insurance, and International and Structured Finance Insurance segments. The company issues financial guarantees for municipal bonds, including tax-exempt and taxable indebtedness of the U.S. political subdivisions, as well as utility districts, airports, health care institutions, higher educational facilities, housing authorities, and other similar agencies and obligations issued by private entities. It also insures the non-U.S. public finance and global structured finance, including asset-backed obligations; and sovereign-related and sub-sovereign bonds, and privately issued bonds used for the financing for utilities, toll roads, bridges, public transportation facilities, and other types of infrastructure projects, as well as offers third-party reinsurance services. MBIA Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

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.