Comparing Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) & Legal & General Group (OTCMKTS:LGGNY)

Legal & General Group (OTCMKTS:LGGNY) and Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Legal & General Group and Principal Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Legal & General Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Principal Financial Group	9.96%	16.02%	0.57%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Legal & General Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Legal & General Group 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
Legal & General Group	$13.51 billion	1.52	$244.08 million	N/A	N/A
Principal Financial Group	$16.13 billion	1.27	$1.57 billion	$6.87	13.36

Principal Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Legal & General Group.

Volatility and Risk

Legal & General Group has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Principal Financial Group has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Legal & General Group pays an annual dividend of $0.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Principal Financial Group pays out 46.0% 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 summary of current ratings for Legal & General Group and Principal Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Legal & General Group	1	4	0	0	1.80
Principal Financial Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Summary

Principal Financial Group beats Legal & General Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Legal & General Group

Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Retail segments. The LGRI segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; and longevity insurance products. The LGIM segment offers index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real assets. The LGC segment provides investment strategy and implementation, and direct investment and structuring services. The Retail segment offers protection products, such as health, disability, critical illness, and accident; individual term assurance; reinsurance; savings and death benefits; annuities; lifetime mortgages; lifetime care plans; retirement interest only mortgages; and workplace savings scheme that provides corporate pension scheme solutions. It is also involved in the unit trust and institutional fund management, mortgage finance, treasury, building project and modular housing development, general insurance, and open-ended investment businesses. In addition, the company engages in the investment, operation, management, trading, and letting and operation of leased real estate; and construction of commercial buildings, financial intermediation, pension tracing and transfer, insurance agents and brokers, fund general partner, commercial lending, venture capital investing, contractual scheme, investor alternative investment fund, collective asset-management, and investment management activities; and provision of investment advisory, business information consultancy, and technology services. Legal & General Group Plc was founded in 1836 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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.