Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) & Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Head-To-Head Survey

Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY) and Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Ageas has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Principal Financial Group has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ageas and Principal Financial Group’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
Principal Financial Group	7.58%	16.09%	0.57%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are owned 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.

Dividends

Ageas pays an annual dividend of $2.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Principal Financial Group pays out 60.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Principal Financial Group has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Ageas and Principal Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ageas	0	1	1	0	2.50
Principal Financial Group	1	7	2	0	2.10

Principal Financial Group has a consensus price target of $94.22, suggesting a potential upside of 4.60%. Given Principal Financial Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Principal Financial Group is more favorable than Ageas.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ageas and Principal Financial Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ageas	$14.68 billion	0.97	$1.21 billion	N/A	N/A
Principal Financial Group	$15.63 billion	1.25	$1.19 billion	$5.27	17.09

Ageas has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Principal Financial Group.

Summary

Principal Financial Group beats Ageas on 11 of the 15 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 Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services for retirement savings and income. It offers products and services for defined contribution plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, employee stock ownership plans, equity compensation, and pension risk transfer services; individual retirement accounts; investment only products; and mutual funds, individual variable annuities, and bank products. The Principal Global Investors segment provides equity, fixed income, real estate, and other alternative investments, as well as asset allocation, stable value management, and other structured investment strategies. The Principal International segment offers pension accumulation products and services, mutual funds, asset management, income annuities, and life insurance accumulation products, as well as voluntary savings plans in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, India, and Southeast Asia. The U.S. Insurance Solutions segment provides specialty benefits, such as group dental and vision insurance, group life insurance, and group and individual disability insurance, as well as administers group dental, disability, and vision benefits; and individual life insurance products comprising universal, variable universal, indexed universal, and term life insurance products in the United States. It also offers insurance solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and their owners, as well as executives. Principal Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.