Contrasting Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK)

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

Dividends

Prudential Public pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Assurant pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assurant pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Assurant has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Assurant is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Prudential Public has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assurant has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Prudential Public and Assurant”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prudential Public	$16.66 billion	2.23	$2.29 billion	N/A	N/A
Assurant	$12.81 billion	0.85	$872.70 million	$16.97	12.95

Prudential Public has higher revenue and earnings than Assurant.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.9% of Prudential Public shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Assurant shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Prudential Public shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Assurant shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Prudential Public and Assurant’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
Assurant	6.81%	18.65%	2.92%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Prudential Public and Assurant, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prudential Public	0	1	5	0	2.83
Assurant	0	2	8	0	2.80

Assurant has a consensus price target of $258.17, suggesting a potential upside of 17.48%. Given Assurant’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Assurant is more favorable than Prudential Public.

Summary

Assurant 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 Assurant

Assurant, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services. The Global Housing segment provides lender-placed homeowners, manufactured housing, and flood insurance; renters insurance and related products; and voluntary manufactured housing, and condominium and homeowners insurance products. The company was formerly known as Fortis, Inc. and changed its name to Assurant, Inc. in February 2004. Assurant, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.