Critical Contrast: Prudential Public (NYSE:PUK) and Loews (NYSE:L)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Loews	9.03%	8.86%	1.96%
Prudential Public	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Loews pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Prudential Public pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Loews pays out 3.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.3% of Loews shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.9% of Prudential Public shares are held by institutional investors. 18.7% of Loews shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Prudential Public shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Loews and Prudential Public”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Loews	$18.18 billion	1.21	$1.67 billion	$7.98	13.37
Prudential Public	$27.76 billion	1.33	$3.98 billion	N/A	N/A

Prudential Public has higher revenue and earnings than Loews.

Volatility and Risk

Loews has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prudential Public has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Loews and Prudential Public, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loews	0	0	0	1	4.00
Prudential Public	1	1	4	0	2.50

About Loews

Loews Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. The company offers specialty insurance products, such as management and professional liability, and other coverage products; surety and fidelity bonds; property insurance products that include standard and excess property, marine and boiler, and machinery coverages; and casualty insurance products, such as workers' compensation, general and product liability, and commercial auto, surplus, and umbrella coverages. It also provides loss-sensitive insurance programs; and warranty, risk management, information, and claims administration services. The company markets its insurance products and services through independent agents, brokers, and managing general underwriters. In addition, the company is involved in the transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids, and hydrocarbons through natural gas pipelines covering approximately 13,455 miles of interconnected pipelines; 855 miles of NGL pipelines in Louisiana and Texas; 14 underground storage fields with an aggregate gas capacity of approximately 199.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas; and eleven salt dome caverns and related brine infrastructure for providing brine supply services. Further, the company operates a chain of 25 hotels; and develops, manufactures, and markets a range of extrusion blow-molded and injection molded plastic containers for customers in the pharmaceutical, dairy, household chemicals, food/nutraceuticals, industrial/specialty chemicals, and water and beverage/juice industries, as well as manufactures commodity and differentiated plastic resins from recycled plastic materials. Loews Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.