Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) and Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Financial Contrast

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) and Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Prudential Financial pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Old Republic International pays out 33.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prudential Financial pays out 57.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Old Republic International has raised its dividend for 45 consecutive years and Prudential Financial has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Old Republic International has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prudential Financial has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Old Republic International and Prudential Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Republic International	10.83%	15.71%	3.23%
Prudential Financial	5.83%	16.33%	0.68%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Old Republic International and Prudential Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Republic International	1	1	1	1	2.50
Prudential Financial	6	9	0	0	1.60

Old Republic International presently has a consensus price target of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.19%. Prudential Financial has a consensus price target of $101.50, indicating a potential downside of 3.03%. Given Old Republic International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Old Republic International is more favorable than Prudential Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.9% of Old Republic International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.8% of Prudential Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Old Republic International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Prudential Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Old Republic International and Prudential Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Republic International	$9.14 billion	1.01	$935.40 million	$3.73	10.22
Prudential Financial	$62.98 billion	0.58	$3.58 billion	$9.72	10.77

Prudential Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Old Republic International. Old Republic International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Prudential Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Old Republic International beats Prudential Financial on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Old Republic International

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business. The General Insurance segment offers aviation, commercial auto, commercial multi-peril, commercial property, general liability, home and auto warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers' compensation insurance products; and financial indemnity products for specialty coverages, including errors and omissions, fidelity, directors and officers, and surety. This segment provides its insurance products to businesses, state and local government, and other institutions in transportation, commercial construction, healthcare, education, retail and wholesale trade, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries. The Title Insurance segment offers lenders' and owners' policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records. This segment also provides escrow closing and construction disbursement services; and real estate information products, national default management services, and various other services pertaining to real estate transfers and loan transactions. The Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business segment offers private mortgage insurance coverage that protects mortgage lenders and investors from default related losses on residential mortgage loans made primarily to homebuyers. Old Republic International Corporation was founded in 1923 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments. The PGIM segment offers investment management services and solutions related to public fixed income, public equity, real estate debt and equity, private credit and other alternatives, and multi-asset class strategies to institutional and retail clients, as well as its general account. The Retirement Strategies segment provides a range of retirement investment, and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors; develops and distributes individual variable and fixed annuity products. The Group Insurance segment offers various group life, and long-term and short-term group disability, as well as group corporate-, bank-, and trust-owned life insurance in the United States primarily for institutional clients for use in connection with employee and membership benefits plans; sells accidental death and dismemberment, and other supplemental health solutions; and plan administration services in connection with its insurance coverages. The Individual Life segment develops and distributes variable life, universal life, and term life insurance products. The International Businesses segment develops and distributes life insurance, retirement products, investment products, and certain accident and health products; and advisory services. The company provides its products and services to individual and institutional customers through its proprietary and third-party distribution networks. Prudential Financial, Inc. was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.