Comparing Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) & AXA (OTCMKTS:AXAHY)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of AXA shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Principal Financial Group and AXA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Principal Financial Group	1	7	3	0	2.18
AXA	0	0	2	1	3.33

Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus target price of $98.10, suggesting a potential downside of 8.03%. Given Principal Financial Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Principal Financial Group is more favorable than AXA.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Principal Financial Group and AXA”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Principal Financial Group	$15.63 billion	1.47	$1.19 billion	$6.99	15.26
AXA	$84.92 billion	1.21	$11.08 billion	N/A	N/A

AXA has higher revenue and earnings than Principal Financial Group.

Volatility and Risk

Principal Financial Group has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AXA has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Principal Financial Group	10.10%	16.25%	0.57%
AXA	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. AXA pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Principal Financial Group pays out 46.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Principal Financial Group has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

Principal Financial Group beats AXA on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About AXA

AXA SA, through its subsidiaries, provides insurance, asset management, and banking services worldwide. The company operates through six segments: France; Europe; AXA XL; Asia, Africa & EME-LATAM; AXA Investment Managers; and Transversal & Other segments It offers life and savings insurance products, such as savings and retirement, other health, and personal protection products. The company also provides property and casualty insurance products, including car, home, and personal or professional liability to individual and business clients; international insurance for large corporate clients in Europe; and marine and aviation insurance services, as well as property and casualty reinsurance products. In addition, it offers asset management services in the areas of various asset classes, including equities, bonds, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate for the group’s insurance companies and their clients, and retail and institutional clients. Further, the company provides motor, household, property and general liability, health, term life, whole life, universal life, endowment, deferred and immediate annuities, and other investment-based products for personal/individual and commercial/ group customers. AXA SA was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Paris, France.