Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) versus Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD) Critical Analysis

Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Goosehead Insurance and Prudential Public”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Goosehead Insurance	$365.30 million	4.78	$30.43 million	$1.04	45.56
Prudential Public	$16.66 billion	2.35	$2.29 billion	N/A	N/A

Prudential Public has higher revenue and earnings than Goosehead Insurance.

Volatility & Risk

Goosehead Insurance has a beta of 1.54, meaning that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prudential Public has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Goosehead Insurance and Prudential Public, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Goosehead Insurance	1	5	7	0	2.46
Prudential Public	0	1	5	0	2.83

Goosehead Insurance presently has a consensus target price of $84.00, suggesting a potential upside of 77.29%. Given Goosehead Insurance’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Goosehead Insurance is more favorable than Prudential Public.

Profitability

This table compares Goosehead Insurance and Prudential Public’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Goosehead Insurance	7.62%	-21.80%	7.78%
Prudential Public	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.9% of Prudential Public shares are owned by institutional investors. 48.4% of Goosehead Insurance shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Prudential Public shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Goosehead Insurance beats Prudential Public on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Goosehead Insurance

Goosehead Insurance, Inc. operates as a holding company for Goosehead Financial, LLC that engages in the provision of personal lines insurance agency services in the United States. The company offers homeowner’s, automotive, dwelling property, flood, wind, earthquake, excess liability or umbrella, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, general liability, property, and life insurance products and services. As of December 31, 2023, it operated 1,415 franchise locations. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas.

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.