Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) Head to Head Contrast

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) and Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Horace Mann Educators and Prudential Public”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Horace Mann Educators	$1.60 billion	1.12	$102.80 million	$3.95	11.15
Prudential Public	$16.66 billion	2.24	$2.29 billion	N/A	N/A

Prudential Public has higher revenue and earnings than Horace Mann Educators.

Dividends

Horace Mann Educators pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Prudential Public pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Horace Mann Educators pays out 35.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Horace Mann Educators has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Horace Mann Educators is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Horace Mann Educators and Prudential Public’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Horace Mann Educators	9.79%	15.69%	1.44%
Prudential Public	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Horace Mann Educators has a beta of 0.08, indicating that its stock price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prudential Public has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Horace Mann Educators and Prudential Public, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Horace Mann Educators	0	3	2	1	2.67
Prudential Public	0	1	5	0	2.83

Horace Mann Educators presently has a consensus target price of $46.75, indicating a potential upside of 6.16%. Given Horace Mann Educators’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Horace Mann Educators is more favorable than Prudential Public.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.3% of Horace Mann Educators shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.9% of Prudential Public shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Horace Mann Educators shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Prudential Public 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.

Summary

Horace Mann Educators beats Prudential Public on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an insurance holding company in the United States. The company operates through Property & Casualty, Life & Retirement, and Supplemental & Group Benefits segments. Its Property & Casualty segment offers insurance products, including private passenger auto insurance, residential home insurance, and personal umbrella insurance; and provides auto coverages including liability and collision, and property coverage for homeowners and renters. The Life & Retirement segment markets tax-qualified fixed, fixed indexed, and variable annuities; and internal revenue code for educator, which allows public school employees and employees of other tax-exempt organizations, such as not-for-profit private schools, to utilize pretax income to make periodic contributions to a qualified retirement plan. The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment offers employer-sponsored products including accident, critical illness, limited-benefit fixed indemnity insurance, term life, and short-term and long-term disability, as well as worksite direct products, such as supplemental heart, cancer, disability, and accident coverage. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois.

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.