Head to Head Analysis: Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) and Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN)

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN) and Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Jackson Financial and Heritage Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jackson Financial	13.41%	20.46%	0.54%
Heritage Insurance	25.07%	40.67%	9.72%

Dividends

Jackson Financial pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Heritage Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Jackson Financial pays out 29.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Heritage Insurance pays out 3.4% 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. Jackson Financial has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Jackson Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.0% of Jackson Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.0% of Heritage Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Jackson Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.2% of Heritage Insurance shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Jackson Financial and Heritage Insurance”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jackson Financial	$6.68 billion	1.33	$27.00 million	$12.16	10.78
Heritage Insurance	$788.51 million	1.25	$195.59 million	$7.11	4.67

Heritage Insurance has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Jackson Financial. Heritage Insurance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jackson Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Jackson Financial has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Insurance has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Jackson Financial and Heritage Insurance, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jackson Financial	0	4	2	0	2.33
Heritage Insurance	0	3	3	0	2.50

Jackson Financial presently has a consensus target price of $134.80, indicating a potential upside of 2.80%. Heritage Insurance has a consensus target price of $37.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.00%. Given Heritage Insurance’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Heritage Insurance is more favorable than Jackson Financial.

Summary

Heritage Insurance beats Jackson Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jackson Financial

Jackson Financial Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides suite of annuities to retail investors in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Retail Annuities, Institutional Products, and Closed Life and Annuity Blocks. The Retail Annuities segment offers various retirement income and savings products, including variable, fixed index, fixed, and payout annuities, as well as registered index-linked annuities and lifetime income solutions. The Institutional Products segment provides traditional guaranteed investment contracts; funding agreements comprising agreements issued in conjunction with its participation in the U.S. federal home loan bank program; and medium-term funding agreement-backed notes. The Closed Life and Annuity Blocks segment offers various protection products, such as whole life, universal life, variable universal life, and term life insurance products, as well as fixed, fixed index, and payout annuities; and a block of group payout annuities. The company also offers investment management services. It sells its products through a distribution network that includes independent broker-dealers, wirehouses, regional broker-dealers, banks, independent registered investment advisors, third-party platforms, and insurance agents. The company was formerly known as Brooke (Holdco1) Inc. and changed its name to Jackson Financial Inc. in July 2020. Jackson Financial Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Lansing, Michigan.

About Heritage Insurance

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides personal and commercial residential insurance products. The company offers personal residential insurance in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia; commercial residential insurance for properties in Florida, New Jersey, and New York; and licensed in the state of Pennsylvania, as well as personal residential and wind-only property insurance. It also provides restoration, emergency, and recovery services; property management, and reinsurance services; homeowners insurance products, including single-family, homeowners or duplex, and condominium owners; and dwelling fire insurance policies. In addition, the company provides personal line policies through a network of retail independent agents, wholesale agents, and a partnership with a direct agency, as well as distribute indirectly to retail locations through wholesale agency relationships. Further, it offers personal and commercial insurance policies through a network of independent agencies. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.